Good effort by Garstang Unrewarded

Sat 24th Oct 2009, 03:00 PM
10 Garstang - De La Salle 27

Garstang hosted De La Salle on Saturday at Hudson Park in a game which was always likely to be a tough fixture as they are the league leaders.  To Coach Harvey Jones horror he was without 5 of his 1st team forwards due to injury.  However, this did not deter those who did play as several players stepped up to the mark and played their hearts out on wet windy day.

The kick off was delayed with De la Salle arriving late due to bad traffic and Garstang showed them that they had a tough game on hands.  From the off Garstang set up a strong platform and camped down in the opposition half.  With Garstang being the heavier, stronger pack they dominated the scrums all afternoon.  It was with a strong scrum that led to the first penalty of the match although the wind got hold of the kick and it duly sailed wide.  This seemed to be the theme  of the day as it was followed by another two missed opportunities.

With a strong wind Garstang did not capitalise it to their advantage.  De La Salle then broke free with some strong running from their centres who linked well with their open side flanker who was everywhere on the day.

At half time, with some encouraging words from Head coach Harvey Jones, Garstang came out stronger and scrummed well.  The ball was spread wide from Paul Brown as he linked well with his backs.

With an off the ball incident Max Everest was taken off with a blood injury and a broken nose for his efforts from a late snipe on the floor, he was replaced by Dave Miller as a ten minute blood replacement. With some promising play Garstang attacked well and had several chances to score under the posts but the opposition defended well.  With an injury to Keith Yates at back row he was replaced by Coach Harvey Jones who led the pack well and with some strong scrimmaging.   Front rows Nick Smith, Ben Corless and John Outram set the platform and marched forward for number eight Jimmy Richardson to pick up from the back and power over for a well deserved and hardfought for try.

It was then Garstang heads were up high and they dominated the play for the next quarter, only to be punished by De La Salle who broke free through their centers and scored under the posts.  The game ended with a home loss of 27 points to 10.

After the game Coach Harvey Jones said “It was a good performance as we always knew this was going to be a tough fixture, we fought well and kept to our game plan, we must though be more clinical in attack and I do expect points when we attack their 22.  The mood in the camp is positive, with a lot of our players unavailable and the mighty Richard Orr missing in the pack today was always going to be hard, but I’m pleased with the efforts of the whole team who kept the score line respectable, we are going into the next fixture in a positive mood”.  A special mention was given to big Tom Parkinson who was man of the match and the back row of Ainsley, Jimmy and Keith who worked hard all game.