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Sat 18 Aug 2012
Bradford and Bingley
1st XV
24
33
STOCKPORT JIGSAW STARTS TO TAKE SHAPE
Richard Hope20 Aug 2012 - 21:28
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Stockport’s Head Coach Tim Burgon admitted to being largely satisfied with his squad’s performance following their most recent ‘pre-season’ outing.
This time it was to play Bradford and Bingley from National 3 North. The feat that now faces him is to blend together pieces from 3 different jigsaw puzzles over the last three weeks into one final complete picture to face Lymm in the 1st Round of the Cheshire Cup this coming Saturday. Although being the County Cup both sides will be taking the opportunity to fine tune their sides before the opening of the League season the following week.
The game was played over three 30 minute periods, the first of which was the most impressive for Stockport. Their forwards were fast and aggressive and the ball was made available quickly and moved through the backs to good effect. The pack took group credit for the first try as they rumbled over from close range after 5 minutes.
In the 10th minute flanker Kieran Hibbs closed in on the Bradford fly half and managed to charge down his clearance. The ball bobbled into the path of centre Greg Newton. The final Stockport try of the period came from some quick thinking and a quick throw in that got the ball to wing Tom Oben whose pace took him to the line.
Meanwhile Bradford kept up the pressure on Stockport and served up some reminders about the importance of concentration in defence. With the score at 12-21 Stockport’s Vice Captain and No.8 Nick Smith popped up on the left wing and made the most of some great foot work and sleight of hand by Greg Newton as he took a well timed pass to score in the corner.
There was still time for Tom Oben to round off a man of the match performance with a 2nd try which in fact could have been a hat trick had he not fumbled his own chip ahead over the line earlier in the game. It was not just Tom’s try scoring that had caught the eye. He worked equally hard in defence and racked up a substantial tackle count.
There were three more new faces for Stockport welcome into their number. One of them who caught the eye in particular was James Flynn. A recent graduate of Stockport Grammar School James has been part of the Sale Academy as well as receiving representative honours.
The game was played over three 30 minute periods, the first of which was the most impressive for Stockport. Their forwards were fast and aggressive and the ball was made available quickly and moved through the backs to good effect. The pack took group credit for the first try as they rumbled over from close range after 5 minutes.
In the 10th minute flanker Kieran Hibbs closed in on the Bradford fly half and managed to charge down his clearance. The ball bobbled into the path of centre Greg Newton. The final Stockport try of the period came from some quick thinking and a quick throw in that got the ball to wing Tom Oben whose pace took him to the line.
Meanwhile Bradford kept up the pressure on Stockport and served up some reminders about the importance of concentration in defence. With the score at 12-21 Stockport’s Vice Captain and No.8 Nick Smith popped up on the left wing and made the most of some great foot work and sleight of hand by Greg Newton as he took a well timed pass to score in the corner.
There was still time for Tom Oben to round off a man of the match performance with a 2nd try which in fact could have been a hat trick had he not fumbled his own chip ahead over the line earlier in the game. It was not just Tom’s try scoring that had caught the eye. He worked equally hard in defence and racked up a substantial tackle count.
There were three more new faces for Stockport welcome into their number. One of them who caught the eye in particular was James Flynn. A recent graduate of Stockport Grammar School James has been part of the Sale Academy as well as receiving representative honours.
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