The Pythons hosted Wath on Dearne at the JSG, a club who had had a similar start to the Pythons, so a tight game was expected. Wath looked to use their big runners early on, but were met with some ferocious defence, with Will Milnes and Ollie Ward both dislodging the ball in tackles. Early pressure was relieved when Jack Thompson-Hall did well to find Jackson Hobson, who broke to halfway before releasing Will Milnes who won a penalty. Wath’s clearance kick found Saul Adshead who released Hobson who found Ward out wide to round his man and score in the corner. 5-0 12 mins. A period of attrition followed, with Pythons runners Luke Korba, George Booth and Milnes been met by strong Wath defence and Ben Pryor and Rhys Cory knocking back the big Wath carriers. Adshead broke down the outside and looked certain to score but was pulled back for a foot in touch. Half time 5-0.
Wath kicked deep to start the second period, and the Pythons decided to run out. A pass was knocked on under the posts and from the scrum the Wath scrum half darted through to score by the posts. 5-7 42 mins. Sustained pressure saw the Pythons held up several times just before the line, until Wath were penalised under the post and Max Sharp to a quick tap to release Hobson who stepped several tacklers to score by the posts. Ward added the extras. 12-7 60 mins. Pythons attacked again and strong runs from Sam Rowntree and Thompson-Hall saw Sharp scythe through the defence to bet tackled just short. The ball hit a stray foot and bounced back to Wath to clear. Following a penalty Wath broke into Python’s territory and quick hand put the winger away to score in the corner. The conversion was crucially successful from the touchline. 12-14 70 mins. Wath then forced an attacking scrum 10m from the Python’s line. The Wath pack heaved the Pythons back and the No8 picked up to score by the posts. 12-21 75 mins. The Pythons secured a bonus point on the last play of the game when a strong surge from Hugh Tatlow found Milnes on the inside to cross and score under the posts. Ward added the conversion to make the final score Pythons 19 Wath 21.
Forwards coach Tom Baxter said after the game:
Going into the game, we knew Wath would be a side with much physicality. Early on, we set about turning this narrative on its head, particularly within defence led by back row bandits Sam Rowntree, Will Mines and Jack Thompson-Hall which continued for much of the game. Our lineout defence was incredibly impressive disrupting ball and nullifying Wath’s driving maul. We played a lot of fast, attacking rugby and looked dangerous from anywhere on the pitch, however, as a group we have to learn to utilise this ability in the right areas of the pitch and not be too eager. Ultimately, Wath were able to take the upper hand and capitalise on our own errors.
The group are a fantastic group to work with and we are growing each time we come together. We look forward to bouncing back into training Monday and Wednesday this week as we prepare for another big test away to Bridlington.
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