PIZZAMEN GO 'TOPPING'

When Stockport took the field on Saturday afternoon resplendent in their new red green and white kit, a Darlington wag was overheard saying that the visitors looked like a pizza salesmen’s convention. It was Stockport who had the last laugh as they finished the day by ‘Topping’ the league with another try bonus point under their belts.

There had been some availability concerns in the Stockport camp. Matt Bebbington was nursing a sore Achilles and Craig Cooper and Greg Newton were unavailable. Steve Pearson moved up from full back to fly half and Nick Wroe came in on the wing. Rueben Harvey took the other wing.

The game was only finally decided in the last ten minutes with the lead changing hands four times. It was the home side who got the busy scoreboard operator off his chair first after 10 minutes with a penalty (3-0).

Steve Pearson was to have a flawless kicking afternoon with 7 from 7 kicks and he opened his account with a 40 yard penalty to level the score after 15 minutes (3-3). Three minutes later Steve was back in kicking action as he was called upon to add the extras to his own try under the posts. Dave Marwick had taken the ball to the blindside and linked with James Drew whose inside ball found Pearson with space to run into. (3-10)

The last 15 minutes of the half were not the best for Stockport with their scrum coming under more pressure. 10 minutes from the break Paul Ralph was sent to the sin bin for entering a maul inappropriately. While he was absent Darlington attacked with new found confidence and eventually their scrum half sneaked in to score and the try was converted. (10-10) The two sides exchanged penalties before the break (13-13)

It was the home side who emerged from their half time trip indoors the more eager and they succeeded in securing a converted try four minutes after the restart. (20-13) Stockport’s Head Coach, Tim Burgon, then made the first of his substitutions as he brought on Richard Geary at scrum half. 2 minutes later Tim must have be pleased with his decision as Geary’s pass went to Steve Pearson who found centre Tom Kelly on a perfect angled run. Tom found Dave Marwick in support as he reached the last man to beat. With two more points from Pearson the score were level again. (20-20)

Darlington, to their credit, redoubled their efforts and half way through the half they broke through the Stockport defence and finished on the move over the visitors try line. (27-20). Although the game was strewn with errors from both sides, the neutral would have accepted this as an early season consequence of sides trying to play attractive rugby. Referee Jonathan Owen also played his part in making it an exciting albeit a frustrating one for the two sets partisan supporters.

In the 26th minute of the half Paul Ralph completed his conversion from villain to hero as he finished off a sharp interchange of the ball between forwards and backs with yet another try to his season’s tally. (27-27)

With the game moving into the final 10 minutes the consensus was that the game would go to the team who scored next and so it proved. 8 minutes remained when a Darlington player picked up from the back of the ruck 5 metres out from his line. Instead of clearing to the safety of touch he set off up field. As he reached the first line of Stockport defenders he decided to step to his right. However in doing so he ran directly behind another teammate and the referee had no hesitation in awarding a penalty for crossing. The groan from the Darlington benches was audible as Steve Pearson stepped up to confirm their worst fears. (27-30).

Over the closing minutes Stockport kept their concentration and when James Drew fielded a clearance kick and elected to keep the ball in hand the move flourished through several phases. Eventually Tom Kelly off loaded to Tom Cruse and he scampered over to secure a valuable try bonus point. Final score 27-37. For the second week running Stockport had prevented the opposition from gaining a bonus point of any description.

As the ‘Pizzamen’ trooped off the field I thought that it was very appropriate that our 1st XV Sponsor ‘Advanti’ is also Italian for ‘Go Forward’. That is exactly what this team seems intent on doing.

Man of the Match went to ‘stand in’ fly half Steve Pearson. This was the very best of Steve to date. He kicked from hand intelligently. He passed sharply. Ran well and scored his try and his seven successful kicks brought him a personal tally of 19 points in the game. Well Done Steve.

Next week the Pepperoni and Mozzarella road show returns to Headlands Road for a home game against the Sheffield Tigers.