Tigers looking for winning ways at Birmingham

After last Saturday's home defeat to Lancashire rivals Fylde, it's time for the Tigers to get back to winning ways again, as they travel to the Midlands to face up to bottom side, Birmingham Bees.

Having started the year on the front foot, with that amazing second half comeback at Coventry, the defeat to Fylde left head coach Richard Senior feeling that: "The score didn't reflect the game, and we did well to go in at half-time with two men down at 10-8"

With two yellow cards late on in the first half, Sedgley defended well, and stopped the visitors from scoring again until the second period, when the game opened out.

Number 8 Juan Crous scored his first try of the season to get the ball rolling, and his side will be hoping for more of the same, as his carrying over the gain line during the season to date has been fantastic, and is one of the big forward threats in a game that, given the wet weather that is predicted, will surely be dominated by the packs.

Coach Dave Peet gave his thoughts ahead of the game at Damson Park: "Birmingham are the in form team, with two wins so far this year, beating Wharfedale and Stourbridge. The Birmingham pack are dominant, and we know that our pack has got to front up tomorrow"

The Bees of course, have the ever-dangerous Mark Woodrow kicking from fly-half, after his contentious move from local rivals Stourbridge. He kicked six penalties last weekend in the win against his former club, and is the man who could cause problems for the Tigers.

Peet spoke about the penalties that the side have been giving away, and knows that they have to be careful in the breakdown: "We need to keep our discipline in our own half, not giving away penalties, as Woodrow kicked six from six last week, and scored a load more the week before"

The starting line-up shows one change from last Saturday, with Simon Parrott replacing brother Chris at fly-half, as he is attending the funeral of former Sale Sharks winger Selorm Kuadey.

Starting Sedgley Park line-up -

15 Richard Wainwright, 14 Michael Dutton, 13 Mark Jennings, 12 Matt Riley, Jamie Harrison, 10 Simon Parrott, 9 Will Runciman; 1 Dan Birchall, 2 Richard Oxley, 3 Nick Flynn, 4 James Lloyd, 5 Louis McGowan, 6 Henno Venter, 7 Dave Livesey, 8 Juan Crous
Replacements - Ben Black, Scott Wright, Adam Lewis, Greg Smith, Fergus Owens

Tigers hunt for revenge on Fylde

This Saturday sees Lancashire's two top sides lock horns once more at Park Lane, as Sedgley Park look to avenge their 43-10 thrashing in September.

The home side are on a high after their second half performance at Coventry, where they overturned a 14-0 half-time deficit to win by 24-14, while Fylde beat a determined Stourbridge side at the Woodlands by 31-21, after losing three players to yellow cards.

Fortunately for Fylde, two of those cards arrived with less than five minutes of the game remaining, and although they conceded a last minute try, they already had the game sewn up.

The Tigers had their own discipline problems to contend with, as prop Dan Birchall saw yellow five minutes into the second half, but while he was off the pitch, his team-mates pulled a try back through man of the match Matt Riley.

Sedgley are still without club captain Garth Dew, who suffered a knee injury before Christmas that will most likely see him out for the rest of the season. The armband has gone in his absence to Nick Flynn, who spoke about the second half comeback.

“For me it was what was said at half time in the dressing rooms that made the difference. There was no punching of walls or ‘hairdryer treatments” from Richard Senior.

“As a team we knew what we had done well and not so well and were just given the direction what to do to put that right.

“Credit where it is due, there was never an ounce of panic at half time or throughout the second half; we just needed that kick start to get us going. Danny Birchall going to the sin bin seemed to do the trick for us! Cheers Danny.”

That victory keeps the Tigers in mid table, with a 50% win rate, while their visitors from the coast lie in third place, having jumped ahead of Ealing after their win on Saturday.

The top of the table remains too close to call, with only four points separating the top four sides; Rosslyn Park and Jersey having overtaken early pacesetters Fylde and Ealing.

Among the top four, Fylde appear to be the poor relations, given the financial clout of the other three clubs.

But, their first season back at level three for a number of years has seen them upset the applecart, especially after their first five games, when with a 100% record, they led the pack.

It’s the January fixtures which Fylde need to make count, as the run-in to the season sees them host Ealing before their final game of the season at Jersey.

Sedgley Park on the other hand, face the big two next month; visiting Ealing before hosting Jersey. Shock results here would certainly upset the applecart.

Back to this Saturday, the pressure will be on Fylde to keep the momentum going, while the Tigers will be looking to get their home form back, after losing in a disappointing performance to Macclesfield in their last home match of 2011.

Sedgley Tigers hold on against Barking

 

Sedgley Park 23 Barking 8

National League One

Saturday 3 December 2011

Sedgley Park beat Barking at the weekend in their National League One match by 23-8. Poor weather conditions lead to handling errors and wayward kicking, but the teams still served up a great game.

The report below appeared in The Rugby Paper on Sunday 4 December.

Sedgley Park withheld second half Barking pressure to keep pace with the leading pack in the table after this match which was played at times in atrocious conditions.

Behind early on to a Chris Ashwin penalty goal, the Tigers lost captain Garth Dew and full back Richard Wainwright to injuries with less than ten minutes played.

The Tigers took the lead when Chris Parrott chipped for Fergus Owens to chase and touch down after 15 minutes.

Matt Riley converted, and added two penalty goals before half time, while Ashwin missed the chance to reduce the arrears on the whistle, to send the home team in 13-3 at the break.

Barking started the second period in the ascendency, and immediately put pressure on the Sedgley Park line, which led to penalties given away in dangerous positions. 

Riley’s kicking from hand was often found wanting, and was pounced upon by William Nelson on the left wing, who chased his own chip kick, and put down just in time before the ball went dead after it rebounded off replacement full-back Tom Leader.

Excellent running through the gain line by Oxley paid off for him on 67 minutes when he scored after stretching over the whitewash, before Riley converted, and added the final touch, kicking a 45 metre penalty goal with three minutes left.

Scorers:

Sedgley Park

Tries: Owens 15, Oxley 67

Conversions: Riley 15 67

Penalty Goals: Riley 23 29 77

Barking

Tries: Nelson 50

Conversions:

Penalty Goals: Ashwin 3 

Half-time: 13 - 3

Star Man: Richard Oxley (Sedgley Park)

Referee: Richard Kelly

Attendance: 215

Teams:

Sedgley Park: Wainwright, Dutton, Owens, Riley, Harrison, C Parrott, S Parrott, Birchall, Oxley, Flynn, Hopa, McGowan, Venter, Dew, Crous

Replacements: Black, Wright, Livesey, Urmston, Leader

Barking: Burcham, Nelson, Henderson, Broughton, Davey, Ashwin, Gash, Mullins, Bloomberg, E Ambrose, Burns, Smith, Sinfield, Ngan, Davies

Replacements: F Ambrose, French, Kersey, Jones, Neale