Buxton 0 (again) Northwich 41
The thirds front row relish yet another encounter with Northwich!
Third team photoAll pictures taken by Howard.
Global warming seems to have taken its toll of the thirds. They are suffering a drought as far as try scoring is concerned, and have the lowest points for, of any team in the league. And on a warm sunny afternoon at Sunnyfields the drought continued as the thirds lost to nil yet again.
Things looked a bit bleak when Tay had a close encounter with a tackle bag during the pre match warm up and photo session. He came off second best. Wilkinson damaged his ribs on the first scrum and though that brought Ali Bearman into the fray slightly earlier than he expected, the pack had a torrid time in the set pieces. The front row Bearman Uprichard and Fussell battled hard all afternoon and Dilworth and Barber stuck at it but they got little change against a stronger and technically better Northwich eight .It was a long hot afternoon, and the decision to forsake Lilliput in favour of the No two pitch seemed ill conceived and over optimistic.
The opening ten minutes went well for Buxton apart from the injury to Wilko. They dominated the territory and put some good moves together, Henderson in particular making the hard yards. A scrappy lineout gave Northwich an opportunity to strike from distance and this they did in some style to open the scoring. Despite valiant defence, Northwich were to quick and too well drilled. The “lean mean tackling machine” Allen tackled all afternoon, and came back onto the pitch after having stitches to a cut eye. Dan Gyte was his tenacious best, and had to be rescued by the skipper Mick Barber after one of his tackles was deemed high by some of the Northwich players. They wanted to have a chat about it but Mike at his diplomatic best calmed the situation down. Stratford organised the backs and showed his skill and class on occasions but there simply was not enough quality ball to do more. Matt Poole is developing into a good fly half. His kicking was excellent and he put Buxton into attacking opportunities. The old bete noir, the failure to retain possession cost the thirds dear yet again. Charles tried his best but to often found himself without support. Preece was calm and assured behind the scrum and there was a big welcome back to Stevie Golden who took over for the second half. Weston, Dawson and Bennison had a couple of breaks out of defence and Richie was solid in defence. But even Stevie Gyte found it hard to lift things, though there was the familiar thud and groans as he steamed into a couple of tackles.
Taylor and McNicholas did well in the line out in particular disrupting Northwich ball, but in the end the thirds were up against a better well-drilled side. That said if we did the basic things well and had a little more aggression in the contact and a little more self-belief we could surprise ourselves and a few other teams. Training! That’s what is needed. We know when it is and where it is so be there!
Things looked a bit bleak when Tay had a close encounter with a tackle bag during the pre match warm up and photo session. He came off second best. Wilkinson damaged his ribs on the first scrum and though that brought Ali Bearman into the fray slightly earlier than he expected, the pack had a torrid time in the set pieces. The front row Bearman Uprichard and Fussell battled hard all afternoon and Dilworth and Barber stuck at it but they got little change against a stronger and technically better Northwich eight .It was a long hot afternoon, and the decision to forsake Lilliput in favour of the No two pitch seemed ill conceived and over optimistic.
The opening ten minutes went well for Buxton apart from the injury to Wilko. They dominated the territory and put some good moves together, Henderson in particular making the hard yards. A scrappy lineout gave Northwich an opportunity to strike from distance and this they did in some style to open the scoring. Despite valiant defence, Northwich were to quick and too well drilled. The “lean mean tackling machine” Allen tackled all afternoon, and came back onto the pitch after having stitches to a cut eye. Dan Gyte was his tenacious best, and had to be rescued by the skipper Mick Barber after one of his tackles was deemed high by some of the Northwich players. They wanted to have a chat about it but Mike at his diplomatic best calmed the situation down. Stratford organised the backs and showed his skill and class on occasions but there simply was not enough quality ball to do more. Matt Poole is developing into a good fly half. His kicking was excellent and he put Buxton into attacking opportunities. The old bete noir, the failure to retain possession cost the thirds dear yet again. Charles tried his best but to often found himself without support. Preece was calm and assured behind the scrum and there was a big welcome back to Stevie Golden who took over for the second half. Weston, Dawson and Bennison had a couple of breaks out of defence and Richie was solid in defence. But even Stevie Gyte found it hard to lift things, though there was the familiar thud and groans as he steamed into a couple of tackles.
Taylor and McNicholas did well in the line out in particular disrupting Northwich ball, but in the end the thirds were up against a better well-drilled side. That said if we did the basic things well and had a little more aggression in the contact and a little more self-belief we could surprise ourselves and a few other teams. Training! That’s what is needed. We know when it is and where it is so be there!
Buxton thirds were: Fussell ©, Uprichard, Wilkinson (Bearman 5mins), Dilworth (McNicholas 45mins), Taylor (Barber 40mins) Allen (Gyte B/I 45-65mins) Charles, Henderson, Preece (Golden 40mins), Poole, D Gyte, Weston, W Preece, Richie (Dawson 40mins) Stratford, (Bennison 40mins)
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