CO-OPERATIVE RUGBY LEAGUE CONFERENCE PREMIERSHIP, MIDLANDS DIVISION
Saturday 26 July 2008
GLOUCESTERSHIRE WARRIORS 22 – 24 COVENTRY BEARS
A penalty goal two minutes from time by Bears stand off Graham healey robbed the Warriors of the draw they deserved from a game that they had played most of the second half following the dismissal of Stephan Fourie early in the second period.
Fourie saw red after throwing a punch following an incident in a tackle. The overworked referee had previously shown yellow cards to Warriors captain Jimmy Armstrong and the Bears Rhiddian Booth, Scott Clendenning-Fenton and Tom Watts in the same incident midway through the first half as tempers threatened to boil over.
As far as the scoring went, the Bears centre Josh Boothby grabbed a hat-trick of tries as did Armstrong for the Warriors who played a real captain’s role with an outstanding personal performance.
The Bears got on the board early through a Boothby try converted by Healey but Armstrong was quick to respond crashing over after a forward pass had given the home side favourable field position.
Shortly afterwards, Jimmy Comber’s strong run took him into Bears territory and Armstrong was on hand to finish by the posts. Fourie converted for a 10-6 lead.
After Marcus brown was forced into touch following a sweeping move instigated by Ben Constantine’s break things got heated. Ronnie Haines was penalised for a high tackle and the next scrum broke up in disagreement as players lost their heads. Three plays later, the referee was forced into brandishing his card to cool things down.
However, Tom James was poleaxed by a high tackle as he stepped inside but all the Warriors got was a penalty. Andy Claydon then had a try disallowed for a forward pass before Matt Cooper was recalled for a similar offence straight from the scrum.
The Warriors did not waste the opportunity this time and Claydon burrows over for a try converted by Fourie for a 16-6 lead.
However, just before the interval Cooper ran a good line to split the defence and score under the posts for Healey to convert and bring the Bears right back into the game.
The Bears could even have been level as they turned round but first Phil Molloy had a score disallowed and then Tanaka Chaunukara was inches away from grounding Healey’s kick though.
Despite being a man down after Fourie’s dismissal, the Warriors forced the pace and Al Bryan forced a goal-line drop out chasing Danny Burke’s kick. Bryan then was forced to save a try with a crunching tackle on Chaunukara in the corner.
The respite was short lived as Boothby found a way over to level the scores, Healey’s conversion being off target.
It was now nip and tuck with the game in the balance. Both sides had chances before Boothby finished his hat-trick. Healey converted for a six point lead.
With five minutes left, a good run by Brown put the Warriors into Bears territory and Armstrong crashed over for his hat-trick. Kevin Lock converted well to tie the scores.
However the Warriors failed to control possession in their own 20 and a penalty gave Healey a straightforward shot at goal to win the game.
Teams:
GLOUCESTERSHIRE WARRIORS: Alan Bryan, Ross Webb, Steve Barnes, Neys Schreiner, Kevin Locke, Stephan Fourie, Danny Burke, Sonnie Williams, Andy Claydon, Steve Lee, Jimmy Armstrong (Capt.), James Comber, Ben Constantine. Replacements: Ronnie Haines, Simon Taylor, Chris Furze, Tom James, Marcus Brown.
Scorers: Tries; Jimmy Armstrong (6, 14, 76), Andy Claydon (33). Conversions; Stephan Fourie 2 from 3, Kevin Locke 1 from 2.
COVENTRY BEARS: Rich Whitehouse, Tanaka Chaunukara, Chris Brown, Josh Boothby, Phil Molloy, Graham Healey, Scott Clendenning-Fenton, Mitch Todd, Alex Brown (Capt.), Tim Stevens, Tom Watts, Matt Allsopp, Matt Cooper. Replacements: Dave Hartley, Kasiano Raturaga, Craig Lee, Dale Bowyer, Sam Vagg, Rob Knox, Rhiddian Booth.
Scorers: Tries; Josh Boothby (2, 54, 68), Matt Cooper (38). Conversions; Graham Healey 3 from 4. Penalties; Graham Healey (78).
Referee: Melvin Bettridge (Southern RLRS)
Star Man: Jimmy Armstrong
Penalties: Warriors 8, Bears 7.
Scoring sequence: 0-6, 4-6, 10-6, 16-6, 16-12, (HT), 16-16, 16-22, 22-22, 22-24, (FT).
There were hat-tricks for Will Thomas, Tom Howley and Ben Thornton as Nottingham Outlaws thumped Birmingham Bulldogs 78-4 at The Bay to secure the Midlands Premier Minor Premiership.
The Outlaws were on top right from the word go and swept into a 36-0 lead by half time. Thomas twice, Steve Hall, Tom Howley, Ben Thornton, Oliver Dale and Martin Edwards all crossed the line and with Thornton booting four goals, the Outlaws were well on their way to the win.
It was much the same after the interval with the only break being a consolation try from Paul Cadman for the Bulldogs. Thornton, Thomas and Howley all completed their threesomes and there were other scores for Jimmy Lewis, Rob Brown and Ben Radford. Thornton added five more goals for a personal tally of 30 points to secure his place as the division’s top points scorer this season.
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Chris Wilson
Media Manager, Gloucestershire Warriors RLFC
Tel: +44 (0)1684 850903
Mobile: + 44 (0)7905 931033
Email: gloswarriors2004@aol.com
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The Gloucestershire Rugby League is an organisation for local rugby league clubs in Gloucestershire. Our main activity currently is to promote rugby league through the County and give useful information about our sport to the public of Gloucestershire.
