The home side failed to score a try and conceded four. In so doing they lost the game 9:22 and can have few complaints. In fact only one. Why didn’t the Black Reds take penalty opportunities when they were available. This plus several missed penalties by the usually reliable Steven Stoddart sealed victory for the visitors.
This was never going to be an easy game for the Black Reds They are already condemned to life in the division below whilst their opponents remain in strong contention for promotion via the play-off system. The game started in scrappy fashion. In the early exchanges a neutral spectator would have had difficulty judging which team occupied berth’s at the top and bottom of the league. The home side should have opened the scoring after only 5 minutes. A quickly taken lineout on the Northwich line went horribly wrong for the visitors and Aspatria back row, Jacques Rowe pounced on the mistake under the posts. He looked certain to wrestle the ball from his opponent and a penalty might have been awarded for holding on. Unfortunately for Rowe the ref did not agree and the Northwich defence rallied quicker than Aspatria could attack and cleared the danger..
As the half progressed, Northwich gradually asserted themselves. On 14 minutes the pressure told and a try was scored following a standard catch and go lineout near the Aspatria line to provide a 0:5 lead. This was followed on 19 minutes when the visitors capitalised on a Black Red handling mistake on the half way line. The visitors slick back line moved into action to score out wide and take a 0:10 lead.
Two scores down but Aspatria were very much in the game. On 30 minutes they really should have taken 3 points back with a regulation penalty but opted to kick for the corner. This was immediately regretted as Northwich won back the ball an defused the threat. Aspatria were now enjoying their best spell of the game. Northwich had to defend vigorously and in so doing had influential back rower, Chris James sin binned for obstructing scrum half, Jack Clegg as he took a quick tap and go penalty. This time the Black Reds turned to Stoddart who knocked over the penalty.
Aspatria commenced the second half only 7 points in arrears and quickly got into their stride. On 47 minutes, Stoddart again stepped up to knock over a penalty to bring the score line back to 6:10. Throughout the game Aspatria had ample possession but unlike Northwich could not use it effectively. On 60 minutes the visitors showed a glimpse of why they remain in the promotion hunt. A seemingly innocuous attacking position around the half way line was turned into gold by fullback Richard Dale who joined the line with a well timed run to put the ball over the line and take the score out to 6:15. Aspatria responded immediately with a further Stoddart penalty to keep in touch with the visitors. At 9:15 one converted try would give Aspatria the win. The Black Reds went for it and as the game neared its conclusion penalty misses and kicks not taken cost the home side a chance of an unlikely victory.
In those last 10 minutes the Black Reds huffed and puffed , losing second rower, Norman Reilly to the bin in the process but simply could not engineer a try scoring opportunity that might have secured the win, Penalties awarded but not punished might also have got them over the line. The game was almost over when Northwich added their fourth try with the last move of the game. With Aspatria over stretched in defence it was a soft score to concede in a match that left a lot to be desired in terms of quality but satisfied anyone who likes their rugby full blooded.
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