Hard Earned Victory

Kendal came into a game against the team immediately below them in the table, after two wins and a losing bonus point from their last three games. Steven Nelson and Kris Bratton returned to the team, whilst Dane Blenkharn replaced the unavailable Jack Lashley. Nathan Wooff came in at fullback with Rory Blakney-Edwards moving onto the wing. James Gough, playing on loan from Preston Grasshoppers to get some match fitness, and Chris Park came onto the bench.

Pocklington had the better of the opening exchanges, where both teams made a number of handling errors. The resulting scrums showed the burley Pocklington pack to be well on top, and they won a penalty after five minutes which outside half Christian Pollack put over to open the scoring. 3v0

The lead was short lived as Kendal came straight back. Glen Weightman switched the kick off and the forwards won the ball. He then put a kick deep into the Pocklington twenty two, and when a Pocklington player tried to run the ball back, the Kendal defence was up quick and won a penalty.

Jordan Johnson took this quickly, which initially seemed as it may be the wrong option, but he made ground, and the move was taken on by Greg Wrathall who almost got to the line, but when he was stopped, Chris Evans was in support for the score. Glen Weightman added the conversion. 3v7

The lead was extended five minutes later. Jordan Johnson made ground and the move was taken on by Kris Bratton, but when he was stopped, the referee came back to give Kendal a penalty, due to “lazy running” by a Pocklington forward, who had obstructed Johnson’s attempt to pass. Glen Weightman put another excellent kick over. 3v10.

Whilst Pocklington had the advantage in the tight exchanges, when the ball came out Kendal were making a lot of ground and opening up the defence. The Pocklington backline was playing well up the field, and Glen Weightman put a number of kicks behind them, but each time the Pocklington defender was able to get back before the Kendal chaser. The kicks were however taking their toll on the tiring Pocklington pack who were being forced to cover a lot of ground.

After twenty minutes Glen Weightman extended the lead with another penalty. 3v13.

Five minutes later Kendal had a second try. Danny Barker, after been stopped quickly several times early in the game, made a break, but this time got the ball away to Mark Carruthers. He opened the defence, then got the ball away to Ben Dixon in space, who powered down the touchline from outside the twenty two to evade a tackler to touchdown in the corner. Glen Weightman added the conversion from the touchline. 3v20.

The half ended with Pocklington demonstrating their power at the scrum, driving the Kendal eight back, and winning penalties, from which they chose to go for further scrums. With the danger of a yellow card, Kendal were eventually forced to bring on Glenn Chesher for Dane Blenkharn, only for him to be penalised for dropping the scrum, although from the touchline, it looked as if this time it had been the Pocklington prop who had gone down.

Having weathered the storm with a solid scrum, all the Kendal forwards good work was undone, when a massive gap opened on the left wing for a Pocklington try with the last move of the half, which was converted for a half time score of 10v20.

Chris Park came on for Nathan Wooff at half time.

The opening score of the half looked as if it could be key, and it went to Kendal in slightly strange circumstances. The Pocklington kick off failed to make ten metres, but despite being in so much trouble at the end of the end of the first half, Kendal chose to take a scrum.

The scrum stayed solid, and Dan Greenwood picked up and made ground, and Pocklington gave away a penalty, which gave Glen Weightman the chance to extend the Kendal lead. 10v23.

Early in the half Jordan Johnson received treatment for a knock, and the Kendal coaches decided it was the moment to bring on James Gough, the perfect player to have on the bench in a game when your scrum is in trouble.

Pocklington were on the attack after a quarter of an hour, and the ball was moved wide to the right wing, where Kris Bratton’s tackle which stopped the move was illegal, and saw him banished to the sidelines for ten minutes.

With Pocklington keeping the ball tight, the lack of a back did not prove such a big problem, and the forwards held out until his return.

With the clock running down and still two scores behind, Pocklington seemed to panic and moved away from their successful forward oriented game, to putting the ball wide, but this played into Kendal’s hands, with Danny Barker, Chris Park and Steven Nelson getting tackles in, which not only slowed played, but won Kendal several scrum put ins.

Kendal had to withstand more pressure on their own line, and failed to take several chances to clear their lines, and were eventually punished with five minutes of normal time to play, with Pocklington being awarded a penalty try, when Kendal illegally stopped a driving maul, to bring Pocklington within a score. 17v23.

Thoughts of another tight finish were almost immediately extinguished.

From the kick off, good Kendal play took the ball to line and when several attempts to get the ball across the line from short range failed, it came back to Glen Weightman, who found Steven Nelson come at pace, and there was no way the Pockington defence could stop him scoring. Having put over a number of much more difficult kicks earlier in the game, Glen Weightman’s conversion came back off the upright. 17v28.

Steven Nelson had been injured in scoring, and he came off to be replaced by Dane Blenkharn for the final minutes.

Again Kendal were punished for failing to clear their lines, when the Pocklington forwards went over for an unconverted try with the last play of the game. 22v28

Another good performance, especially considering the difficulty in winning any good ball at the scrum, with Dan Greenwood going a good job, to not only tidy up, but then make ground and get passes away. The back division again looked as if it could cause defences problems if it could get ball.

The only disappointments will be the failure to get a try scoring bonus point, and allowing the late Pocklington score for their losing bonus, but the forwards did well to keep a strong pack out for most of the game,

Next week sees mid-table Moortown visit Mintbridge, in a game which will see if the recent good performances can be built upon, before a free weekend in a fortnight for the World Cup Final.

KENDAL MAN OF THE MATCH : Mark Carruthers
Three apperances this season, three wins. Since he returned from injury Mark's partnership with Danny Barker, both in attack and defence, has contributed to the improvement in the team's fortunes, and for a second week delivering a scoring pass.

Mark just pipped last week's winner Glen Weightman.

Almost as many votes as we had supporters there (maybe some of their supporters read our website and voted). Ten players got a vote including all three substitutes, whilst some of those who missed out I had expected to be in contention, such was competition in another good team performance.