CO-OPERATIVE RUGBY LEAGUE CONFERENCE
MIDLANDS PREMIER DIVISION
Saturday 20 June 2009
GLOUCESTERSHIRE WARRIORS 26 – 37 LEICESTER PHOENIX
A superb defensive performance particularly on their own goal line and a good completion rate in possession was not enough to give the Gloucestershire Warriors a much-needed win to get their season back on track.
Despite the scoreline, it was a good performance from the Warriors who made few errors and kept risky offloads to a minimum while in defence, they denied the Phoenix at least four tries by somehow getting an arm, leg or other part of the body under the ball preventing it from touching the ground.
However, their defence was not so determined in midfield as too often the Leicester attackers, particularly lively full back Nathan Walmsley and replacement prop James Portsmouth made good yards forward to set up attacking positions.
The young Warriors side superbly led by Dan Garbutt dragged themselves back from 18-6 down to lead 20-19 with a quarter of the game remaining but were unable to hold on as the Phoenix finished strongly.
The Warriors opened the scoring after four minutes as Tom James took advantage of some over-eager defence close to the line to stroll over. Alex McEwan’s conversion gave the home side the best possible start but the Phoenix were level eight minutes later, Ben Hooper outpacing the defence from distance to score and Walmsley banging over the first of his six conversions.
Both sides looked to gain the advantage and there was no more scoring until the half hour mark when Darren Birch was set free by Mark White to race away from just inside the Phoenix half for a converted try.
Six minutes later, Walmsley tried a little chip over the defence and won the race to the bouncing ball to score under the posts making the conversion a formality.
The Warriors gave themselves a lifeline before the break with a try from Steve Barnes after a clever tap penalty from Pat Hanslow caught the defence out.
Barnes crossed again with an identical move four minutes into the second period to bring the Warriors to within four points at 14-18.
After the Phoenix had a try disallowed following an excellent last-ditch tackle from Rich Carter, Walmsley knocked over a drop goal to extend the visitors’ advantage by a point but just after the hour mark, Garbutt powered over for a try converted by McEwan to edge the Warriors in front.
However, they could not build on that lead and after Ben Husthwaite had been held up over the line twice, Demetrius Gonsalves powered through to score. Michal Fornalczyk followed him across the line minutes later as the Warriors struggled to hold the hard running Phoenix pack.
There was still some fight left in the Warriors side as James crossed for his second try converted by McEwan to put the Warriors within a score of the Phoenix but there was still time for Husthwaite to be held up again before he finally got the nod from the official to score the Phoenix’s sixth try converted by Walmsley to ensure that they stayed at the top of the table.
GLOUCESTERSHIRE WARRIORS: Alex McEwan, Regi-Lee Alexander, Ben Broady, Steve Barnes, Rich Carter, Tom James, Ben Hough, Ken Stone, Patrick Hanslow, Dan Garbutt (Capt.), Simon Taylor, Tom Bozzard, Matt Elston. Replacements: Neys Schreiner, Ryan Alexander, Max Hough.
Scorers: Tries; Tom James (4, 76) Steve Barnes (39, 44), Dan Garbutt (61). Conversions; Alex McEwan 3 from 5.
LEICESTER PHOENIX: Nathan Walmsley, Dan Ford, Ryan Handley, Darren Birch, Ben Hooper, Jamie Muggleton, Mark Sloan (Capt), Demetrius Gonsalves, Jamie Howe, Michal Fornalczyk, Wes Cartwright, Mark White, Chris Barron. Replacements: Ian Marsh, Jordan Connell, Greg Walters, James Portsmouth, Daniel Nixon, Ben Husthwaite, Karl de Haven.
Scorers: Tries; Ben Hooper (12), Darren Birch (30), Nathan Walmsley (36), Demetrius Gonsalves (68), Michal Fornalczyk (72), Ben Husthwaite (79). Conversions; Nathan Walmsley 6 from 6. Drop Goals; Nathan Walmsley (52).
Referee: Ian Waters (South West RLRS)
Man of the Match: Warriors: Steve Barnes, Phoenix: James Portsmouth
Penalties: Warriors 12, Phoenix 4.
Scoring sequence: 6-0, 6-6, 6-12, 6-18, 10-18, (HT), 14-18, 14-19, 20-19, 20-25, 20-31, 26-31, 26-37, (FT).
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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.
