We travelled south to the borders of the Peak District to face the second Sheffield based opponents in less than a month. Firing on all cylinders from the off and playing up the hill the Greens were soon on the offensive with Owen Bullock crossing the line in the first two minutes. Max Bell converted. The Tigers duly responded with their own converted try to make it 7-7. On the attack again, the mercurial Bullock crossed for his second try with Bell adding the conversion.
A brief lapse in discipline cost the Dalesmen a further three points, but with Jack Kitching in close support of Elliot Stockton, he benefited by taking Elliot’s pass to crash over. Bell again converted. Bullock secured his hat trick with another converted try and this was quickly followed by Bell scoring himself; predictably he converted it. This made the score 10-35 at the break.
The referee came across during the interval to announce that it was to be uncontested scrums in the second half. When play resumed, George Altham ran hard to score a converted try. Bullock then came off his wing to score his fourth try, predictably converted yet again by Bell. An over-exuberant tackle led to a brief display of handbags, a red card for Scott Rogers and a yellow for the Tigers No 9. The Foresters immediately settled back into a rhythm, despite being a man light, and Ben Speight scored wide out, and Bell continued his success with conversions. Joe Fawcett took the final try by careering out of defence, but for once it was not converted.
This was another great display of open, running rugby. It was good to see Owen Bullock in superlative form again and to welcome back James Coulton after serious injury. Max Bell’s kicking from the tee was immaculate (8 conversions out of 9 and a try as a bonus). Evan Jones put in a solid display on both his Foresters and Senior Rugby debut; he is a product of our mini and juniors section, as were 13 players in today’s team.
George Altham. 1T
Fred Marsden
Jimmy Meehan
Harry Matthew
Jack Kitchen 1T
Zeb Hayes
Joe Fawcett. 1T
Elliott Stockton
Olly Bullock
Max Bell. 1T 8C
Owen Bullock. 4T
James Coulton
Jonny Moore
Scott Rogers
Ben Speight 1T
Tom Whitehead
Evan Jones