PHOENIX TRIUMPH OVER THORNE
Phoenix travelled to local rivals Thornensians for a derby encounter against their relegation threatened neighbours. Despite Thorne’s current plight phoenix anticipated a tough afternoon with the added spice of ‘ensians inclusion of ex Phoenix 2nd team players Chris Sayles and Jono Storey. Rumour has it contract talks with Phoenix had fallen through for the duo earlier on in the season, with them sighting there dislike of the Phoenix 2nd XV kit and playing surface as reason enough to seek pastures new a few miles down the M18.
Phoenix once again rotated their squad, meaning the team sheet showed five personnel changes and one positional to last weeks. Roodt came in at loose head in place of Liddle, Taylor regained his number seven shirt from young Horrocks, Atkinson returned from a lengthy injury in place of the injured Oakley (with Morris moving from hooker to eight), Lowcock took over at 12 from the flying scotsman Thomas and finally Brookfield replaced Elliot on the left wing.
The fist half began with Phoenix commanding much of the early possession and territory. In contrasting styles Thorne favoured the boot of Storey to the corner whilst Phoenix looked to make use of their outside backs. Taylor was prominent through out the openings exchanges with regular strong burst off the back of attacking line outs.
The deadlock was broken mid way through the half, with Phoenix retaining the ball well they established good field position inside the Thorne 22. From here number 8 Morris scythed through a (large) gap close to the breakdown taking a subtle flick from veteran scrum half Greenslade. With only the full back to beat he (in now customary fashion) dipped his considerable torso and bullocked his way through the young Thorne 15. Ben Millar added the extras from just left of the posts.
At seven points up Phoenix went on to create half a dozen clear cut chances which could have put Thorne away, notably through Smith, Millar, Jazz and Burton with each being guilty of either attempting to force the final pass or by merely not executing relatively simple 2 on 1’s. Added to this, Phoenix were brought back on a couple of occasions for marginal forward passes.
Thorne were able to piece together a period of pressure just prior to the half time break, however were unable to force their way through a strong Phoenix defence and had to settle for 3 points kicked by their inside centre.
The second half was a more evenly contested affair, however it was Phoenix who again managed to convert pressure into points. This time it was courtesy of winger Brookfield who managed to get on the end of a well worked back row move. The move started with a dexterous flick by Morris from the base of the scrum, fly half Elliot looped round from open to blind to send Brookfield in at the corner. The difficult conversion was missed by Millar however he later made up for this by slotting a penalty to take Phoenix 18-3 clear.
Thorne responded well with a huge penalty by their inside centre, goaled from just short of the half way line. This to bring them back to within 12. From here Thorne fought hard to claw back the points. They went close with a series of pick and drives resulting in scrum half Lee Lindsall being adjudged ‘held up over the line’ much to the crowds’ annoyance.
The game finished at 18 – 6 in Phoenix’s’ favour. For the second consecutive week they had prevented their opponents from crossing their try line, however they know next weeks home game against Barnsley will provide a sterner test of their defensive capabilities. Phoenix must also learn from their mistakes this week, when they could and should have ensured the margin of victory was far greater, especially during a period before half time. It was however encouraging that the back line again created numerous opportunities and built on last week’s fluid performance. What is also pleasing is the competition for places which is growing week upon week. Top performers at Thorne included the returning Taylor, Daniel ‘rubber gloves’ Morris and Tim Elliot. A special mention must go to Pete Atkinson who managed to negate a full 80 minutes on his return from injury, even more pleasing for Pete was the fact that he left the field with only the one hole in his back side.
The post match activities culminated in Phoenix captain Mark Longworth being presented with the prestigious Greenslade trophy, which is competed for annually between the two clubs with the aggregate score used to determine the winner. This year see’s Phoenix triumph 53 points to 12, and without conceding a try in all three matches.
|
_off.png)
