SEDGLEY PARK           27

LONDON WELSH          20 

National League Division One  

IT may have taken 10 attempts but Sedgley finally claimed their first victory of the season in a game that was what Tigers’ Director of Rugby Tim Fourie had predicted it would be – ugly.

“For over 15 minutes at the start of the second half we had to fight to keep them out but we were prepared to defend, we wanted to defend,” said the man who had shrugged off recent knee surgery to slot in once more at second row and lead by example.

“We didn’t help ourselves either because every time we got possession we either dropped the ball or kicked it away.

“We are still not showing enough composure in certain aspects of the game. Too many guys think we have to score every time we get the ball. But the first thing we need to do is respect the possession we get.

“But we asked for a big defensive effort and we got it, so we have to temper our frustration at certain aspects of our play with the surge in confidence this win will hopefully bring.”

Backs’ coach Andy Northey also injected a note of realism when he added: “Beating Welsh has put us back in the mix.

“Everyone who had dismissed us will now have to sit up and take us seriously again. That means teams will alter their attitude towards us, so we have to use this win to spur us on. But one win on its own is no good, we need to turn it into two, three and four because it has taken us so long to get our season up and running and we have a lot of catching up to do if we are to survive at this level.”

Exiles’ fullback Sam Ulph had a chance as early as the second minute to put his side in front with a 40-metre penalty but missed. However, from the resulting 22-metre drop out, Welsh gained possession and were awarded another penalty, which Ulph kicked for touch and his forwards turned possession from the five–metre lineout into a catch-and-drive and forced their way over in the left-hand corner where hooker Chris Ritchie clamed the try. Ulph added the conversion and Welsh led 0-7 after just four minutes.

The Tigers’ response was instantaneous. Welsh returned the restart kick and the ball went straight to stand-in fullback Chris Hall, whose kick-and-chase was spot on. The momentum was maintained and the ball was swung along the line left to right with hooker Mark Jones popping up on the right-hand touchline to take the final pass and drive over by the corner flag. Phil Jones then supplied the extras to make it 7-7 with just eight minutes gone.

Before Welsh had had a chance to regroup the Tigers grabbed the lead.They drove the back at the Exiles from the re-start and after a second penalty five metres from the visitors’ line the simple catch-and-drive was performed to perfection, with Jon Skurr getting the all important downward pressure to put the Tigers into a 12-7 lead.

But this topsy-turvy game swung the Exiles’ way again and Ritchie went over again from a five-metre lineout. With Ulph adding the conversion Welsh led 12-14.

The Tigers were relishing the challenge and began to apply persistent pressure. The forwards continually drove the ball into contact before Chris Leck and Phil Jones changed the point of attack, with one move down the left ending with centre Andy Craig racing for the Exiles’ line, only for the latest loan signing from Sale Sharks, England Sevens player Andy Vilk, to knock his pass on metres from the left corner flag.

With five minutes to go to the break Phil Jones’ 28-metre penalty kick hit the left upright before bouncing back into play. However, a Welsh player knocked-on and a free kick following a scrum saw the ball fed along the line where the rolling maul took play to within five metres of the Exiles’ try line on the right. There Leck offloaded to Fourie who flopped over by the corner flag to put his side back in front. Jones’ conversion making it 19-14 to the Tigers at half-time.

The third quarter has for so long proved to be Sedgley’s downfall but this time they held firm and a mammoth defensive effort frustrated Welsh for over 15 minutes after the re-start. They in turn persisted in kicking penalties for field position but then failing in the face of determined opposition to turn territorial gain into points.

After 18 minutes of continual pressure Welsh decided to kick the next penalty for goal and were rewarded with the three points.They then seemed to accept that the only way they were going to score any more points would be via Ulph’s boot, and he kicked another penalty on 62 minutes to put his side into a 19-20 lead.

Six minutes later Jones put the Tigers back in front with 35-metre kick and with two minutes to go Ian Voortman thought he had gone over in the right-hand corner, but the linesman adjudged him to have been in touch and the crowd continued to bite their nails.

They need not have worried, for two scrums later the ball was recycled as the Tigers maul drove the Welsh line and replacement Ben Lloyd, another loan signing from Sale, got the touchdown that guaranteed the Tigers their first win of the season and the four-try bonus point. Jones was unable to add the difficult conversion which meant Welsh left Park Lane with a losing bonus point, but a relieved Tigers side would not begrudge them that. 

SEDGLEY PARK: Hall, Vilk, Briers, Craig, Voortman, P. Jones, Leck, Gazzola (Du Plessis 63), M. Jones (Roddam 63), Evans, Fourie, Norris (Lloyd 53), Newton (Jope 29 Blood, 53), Ponton, SkurrReplacements not used: Livesey, J. Albinson, T. Albinson. Tries: M. Jones (7), Skurr (10), Fourie (34), and Lloyd (76). Conversions: P. Jones 2. Penalties: P. Jones 1. 

LONDON WELSH: Ulph, Strong, Cadwallader, Storey (Hayward 55), Arasa, Marks (Cannon 61), Shaw (Walbyoff 76), Williams, Ritchie (Campbell 73), Hannon, Quigley, Slade, McNamee, Griffith (Anayi 40), Beard (Daish 73). Replacement not used: Marsters. Tries: Ritchie (4, 16). Conversions: Ulph 2.Penalties: Ulph 2.