Hosts battle hard to win see-saw thriller

Nov 20 2008 by Alec Doyle, Whitchurch Herald

WHITCHURCH came out on top in a topsy-turvy home game against Walsall, coming from behind three times to win 34-27.

Walsall opened the scoring after eight minutes with a try and conversion but two minutes later Whitchurch’s Danny Nicholas landed a penalty.

Moments after that, a converted try by skipper and prop Russell Lear put the home side 10-5 up.

A Simon Millard try and Matt Wood conversion restored the visitors’ lead by two points but Whitchurch quickly took back control with a Danny Nicholas penalty.

A 38th-minute converted try from Tom Hares put the home side 20-12 up before Walsall’s Matt Wood reduced the arrears to 20-15 at the interval.

The second half started badly for Whitchurch when Walsall winger Andy Turner scored a try, converted again by Wood to give them a 22-20 lead.

Another Tom Hares converted try restored the home team’s control, then scrum half Chris Hares chipped in with a try of his own to give Whitchurch a comfortable 34-22 lead.

A last-minute Walsall try was too late and Whitchurch claimed victory.

Club spokesman John Gregory said: “It was a very close-fought match and a good game of rugby.

“It’d be nice if we could take three games and get to six wins before Christmas to put us well into mid-table.”

Whitchurch are now third from bottom and play Walsall again away on Saturday in the EDF Energy Intermediate Cup second round.

In John Smith’s Extra Smooth Division One, Whitchurch 2nds slumped to a 42-5 defeat at home to New Brighton 2nds.

The team’s youngsters were up against a strong New Brighton outfit whose experience showed.

Former captain Scott Emerson returned to the fray after injury but Whitchurch’s back row was disrupted with players forced to play further up field.

The loss leaves the 2nds second from bottom in the league.

After a long away trip, Whitchurch 3rds recorded a sixth successive win, beating Aldwinians 19-8 in the second round of the Harbro Shield.

First-half tries from Steve Bloor and Tom Winney, followed by an Olly Griffiths conversion gave Whitchurch a 12-3 lead at the turn- around.

The Whitchurch defence held strong under increasing pressure and a converted try by Rob Pemberton sealed the win.

They return to league action this week away at Bowdon 2nds.

Whitchurch U16s put on a majestic display of running rugby to annihilate Telford Hornets 67-0, beating them by 11 tries.

The try scorers were Ricky Allman (2), Robbie Dudley, Alex Shaw, Matt Rowe, James Hockenhull (2), Ollie Brereton, Josh Cason, Jon Cope and Ricky Martoccia.

Next week they face Stoke, a team they have not beaten for five years.