Another Good Win

After the mass changes of the previous weekend, this was a more settled team, with Ben Leacock coming in for Chris Downham, with James Thompson moving to No.8, whilst Chris Park came in for Mark Carruthers, with Zane Butler moving onto the wing, his third position in the first three games.

Kendal almost got off to a dreadful start, as the forwards failed to gather the Rochdale kick off, and a Rochdale player then broke through the defence, with what appeared to be a clear run to the line, only for Zane Butler (?) to get across to make a crunching tackle, and James Gough then got in, to try to steal the ball, forcing the isolated player to concede a penalty.

With five minutes played Kendal had the lead. A Rochdale kick out of defence was gathered by Zane Butler, who quickly moved the ball infield. The ball was moved across field to Dini Noyo who made a break down the left. The move was then taken on by centre Damian Armstrong, who when stopped managed to stayed on his feet, which allowed James Gough to take the ball, and it was again moved at speed to the left, where Chris Park had a clear run to the line. Glenn Weightman put over a difficult conversion. 0v7

Rochdale struck back almost immediately. Again Kendal failed to deal with the kick off and the Rochdale forwards put the ball through several phased of play. When a forward broke away he found his pass to the left wing cut out by the Kendal defence, so instead went for the line himself, and whilst stopped before the line, he was able to reach out to touch the ball down. The conversion was successful to tie the scores. 7v7.

This was to be the last score of the half, but both teams had opportunities. as play moved from end to end, without either team establishing a foothold in the opposition twenty two. Both back divisions looked dangerous, but the often frantic play led to frequent handing errors.

The Kendal pack were at a large weight disadvantage, but were doing well to hold their own in the scrums, and once drove their opposite numbers backwards. Rochdale were also proving to have a very strong lineout.

Glenn Weightman was frequently choosing to put long cross field kicks for his two wings to chase. Whilst this did not result in scores, it was clearly tiring a number of the larger Rochdale forwards, who were starting to take their time to get to set pieces.

As the half finished Kendal found themselves in the defence, after conceding four penalties in a row, starting with a warning to Zane Butler for a second high tackle. Rather than go to the posts, Rochdale, chose to look for a try, and the Kendal defence held out, and finally forced a penalty to allow the ball to be put to touch to end the half.

At halftime, the Kendal coaching team made it clear that the team needed to be more patient, and stop forcing quick passes out of tackles, which had led to a number of errors, and was allowing the Rochdale defence to fan out across the pitch, rather than be committed to the breakdowns.

Kendal started the second half well, and had an opportunity to take the lead, but a penalty kick fell short. Instead it was the home team which took the lead after nine minutes, with a penalty after Kendal had been caught offside in midfield. 10v7.

This signalled the introduction of Richard Harryman, with Ben Leacock making way, and Liam Hayton moving back into the second row. Shortly afterwards Nathan Wooff came on to replace Chris Park.

Glenn Weightman drew the scores level with a penalty, after Rochdale had been caught slowing the ball at a Kendal ruck. 10v10

Kendal stayed on the attack. A score looked on when from midfield, when Damian Armstrong chipped a kick through. Whilst the ball was gathered by a Rochdale player, Armstrong caught him and then stole the ball. Dini Noyo drove on, but when the ball was lost, Rochdale set up a counter attack, and again when it looked as if they were away, before Zane Butler got across with another crunching tackle.

After twenty minutes Kendal made their third change, with Mark Carruthers coming on for Danny Barker.

Kendal regained the lead after twenty five minutes. A lineout was won on the left and the ball moved into midfield. It appeared the ball may have been knocked on, but the referee was happy, and Glenn Weightman went through a gap to score, but was unable to add the conversion. 10v15.

Rochdale failed to get the restart kick the required distance, putting Kendal straight back on the attack. Kendal’s third try came shortly afterwards when Dini Noyo gathered a kick out of defence. Again there was a hint of a knock on, but the referee played on. Whilst Dini was stopped close to the line, he had supported for Josh Chaplow to go over for the try. 10v20

Rochdale were almost immediately back in the game. The ball was moved to the right for an unconverted try 15v20, with ten minutes to play.

From the re-start Kendal were straight back on the attack, keeping Rochdale penned in their own half whilst looking for a decisive score of their own.

As the game came to the end of normal time, Damian Armstrong broke through, but when he was tackled near the line, the ball went loose, only for Rochdale to knock on themselves, to end any threat of a counter attack.

With Rochdale’s jumbo prop now on the touchline, after doing his work, and Richard Harryman in the Kendal front row, the balance of power had switched. A good Kendal scrum force the ball to come out of the back of a retreating Rochdale scrum, but James Gough had dropped back to defend, allowing Rochdale to re-group. Their forwards tried to drive the ball out of defence, but were held up by the Kendal pack, to give Kendal the scrum.

When the ball came back to Glenn Weightman, he found the Rochdale backline up fast, to prevent a pass, and looking for an interception. With few options, he chose to put a kick to the corner for Dini Noyo to chase, and whilst there was a possibility the ball was lost before he grounded it, the referee was happy, and Kendal had their bonus point. 15v25.

The referee immediately blew for full time after the unsuccessful conversion, and Kendal had a hard fought victory, against what appeared to be a powerful Rochdale team.

Whilst the second half tries may have been fortuitous, Kendal totally dominated the second half, with Rochdale’s only visits to the Kendal half, being for their two scores.

The team is also benefiting from the great versatility of players to adapt to different positions, and ingenuity of the coaching team, who at one point moved Matty Houghton to hooker, to allow Garry Holmes to switch to No.8. Until Richard Harryman’s introduction, Liam Hayton and Duncan Green had again coped well, against more traditional props.

As at Leigh, a number of moves did not come off, but as the team works together more, there are clear signs that there is a back division capable of surprising a number of opponents.

Website Kendal MAN OF THE MATCH Zane Butler
With twice as many votes as any other player - quick thinking started the move that ended in the first try, some great running but most importantly some crunching try saving tackles.

ActionTeamNoNameTimeRochdaleKendal

TryKendal15Chris Park505
ConKendal10Glen Weightman607
TryRochdale?957
ConRochdale1077
= = = = = = = = =HALF TIME40+577
PenRochdale15Oli Coldman49107
sub onKendal16Richard Harryman49107
sub offKendal5Ben Leacock49107
sub onKendal19Nathan Wooff53107
sub offKendal15Chris Park53107
PenKendal10Glen Weightman581010
sub onKendal20Mark Carruthers611010
sub offKendal12Danny Barker611010
TryKendal10Glen Weightman651015
TryKendal?681020
TryRochdale?701520
TryKendal11Dini Noyo831525
= = = = = = = = =FULL TIME841525
[/table]

THANKS to Frank J for confirming the scvoere of the third try was Josh Chaplow