SEDGLEY TIGERS 13
ESHER   15

National Division One

LOSING bonus points may be a poor second to a four or five point win, but they could yet be the key to moving the Tigers up the league table.

Yes, this game should have produced victory number six, but the point gained is still a point, even if it was a disappointing one.

It all started brightly with Sedgley taking the lead on six minutes through Phil Jones’ boot after the Tigers had showed an early desire to throw the ball around.

Ten minutes later Esher’s top points scorer, fullback Neil Hallett, had an opportunity to tie the score but missed with a 35-metre penalty attempt. A second shot at goal shortly afterwards cannoned back into play off a post, as Sedgley continued to have the upper hand, despite the midfield forays of Esher’s former Ireland and British Lions’ centre, Rob Henderson.

Opposite him the Tigers were giving plenty of chances to new signing Luther Burrell – on loan from Leeds Carnegie – at every opportunity, both as first receiver off the back of scrum-ball and out in midfield.

On 25 minutes the Lions upped the pressure and were awarded another penalty 39 metres out from the Tigers’ posts and this time up stepped fly-half Dave Slemen to bang over the kick to pull his side level.

The kicking for field position duel, which had been threatening to break out finally did so, as both side’s sought to push the other into unforced errors. On a rare afternoon at Park Lane where there was no rain and little wind, it should have been a duel to admire, instead as accuracy levels wavered, so did the effectiveness and the crowd’s frustration was voiced.

However, with Jon Skurr taking ball into contact in the forwards and wingers Chris Hall and Chris Briers looking for work, Sedgley built up momentum going into the final five minutes of the half and were duly rewarded.

Fullback Steve Nutt fielded an Esher clearance kick and offloaded to Hall who came in from his wing. He broke forward and found Jamie Albinson, whose dart down centre field wrong-footed Esher’s centres. The number nine then drew his marker before offloading to Andy Craig racing up on his shoulder and he had the legs to outpace his marker and make it over the line 10 metres in from the touchline. Jones kicked the extras and all of a sudden the Tigers sat on a 10-3 lead.

The fact they should have extended it by at least another seven points, if not more, before the interval is inescapable. Briers was tackled 10 metres short before the Tigers were held up over the Esher try line three times in as many minutes by a desperate defensive rearguard. When another chance materialised the wrong option was taken and the referee’s whistle ended the half.

Soon after the restart Burrell burst onto a ball in the Esher half and drove towards the 22. Such was his power that upon driving into a defender he knocked him clean over, legally. Yet referee Keith Lewis, concerned for the player’s condition, blew up and in effect penalised Sedgley, who upon the player recovering and continuing were awarded the put-in at a scrum, when the momentum Burrell was creating could have ended in a second try.

Sedgley did extend their lead on 52 minutes when they were stopped illegally and Jones slotted over the 15-metre penalty kick to make it 13-3. He then had another shot, this time from 48 metres, but it went narrowly wide.

From that point Esher grabbed the initiative. Starved of scoring chances they made the most of the one that presented itself on the hour. A Steve Nutt clearance kick was collected out on the right and the ball drilled along the back line to the opposite side, where leading try scorer Dougie Flockhart, the former Border Reivers’ wing, was given space out wide which he used to evade his marker and go over in the left-hand corner to move the score on to 13-8.

Jones then had another opportunity to increase the Tigers’ lead, but his 38-metre penalty kick with 11 minutes to go bounced to safety off a post.

With six minutes left Esher fired the ball first one way, then the other before Flockhart once more crashed over, slicing with ease through the Tigers’ defence to touch down between the posts to give Hallett the simplest of conversions and the visitors led 13-15.

Sedgley threw caution to the wind but despite all their huffing and puffing the nearest they came to scoring again was a drop goal attempt from Jones that was completely miss-hit and summed up the Tigers’ desperation.

Another game that should have been won; another game lost; another losing bonus point. It’s getting to be a habit.

SEDGLEY TIGERS: Nutt (Riley 73), Hall, Craig, Burrell, Briers, Jones, J. Albinson, Gazzola (A. Livesey 72), Roddam, Du Plessis (Birchall 73), Norris (Townson 64), Crous (Fourie 53), Newton, Ponton, Skurr.
Replacements not used: Keys and Payne.
Tries: Craig (32).
Conversions: Jones 1.
Penalties: Jones 2 (from 4).

ESHER: Hallett, Moore, Armitage (Clouston 67), Henderson, Flockhart, Slemen, Lane (Barr 67), Millard (Smith 71), Goldsmith (Mayhew 73), Alexander (Dewes 71), Harris (Soden 53), Barker, Blakeburn, Starling (Yellowlees 73), Barrell.
Tries: Flockhart (57 & 73)
Conversions: Hallett 1 (from 2).
Penalties: Slemen 1.