1st XV loose out in National Plate Quarter Final

Holmes Chapel RUFC can hold their heads high as they placed themselves in the Top 8 UK Rugby clubs at our level, loosing to a very strong Yorkshire side Bramley Phoenix 29-18 in the RFU National Plate Quarter Final.

With over 100 club members making the trip up the M62 confidence was high after a very successful March and with the first outing of our new club kit the boys really looked the part. There were a couple of enforced changes to the side with Veteran Andy Partington coming in for the unavailable Fyffe, and with Griffin who has been inspirational all season unable to shake off an ankle injury from the week before, Moss, Cottam & Bowbeer made up the back row.

In beautiful sunny conditions Chapel kicked off to Bramley and made their intentions clear from the off, turning the ball over and then camping in the Bramley 22 for the first 10 minutes of the game. After all this early pressure Bramley were delighted when their centre pounced on a loose ball a scored a brilliant individual try to give a score of 5-0. After a further 10 minutes with neither side really taking each other on, Bramley got into their stride and scored a converted try after 20 minutes with several phases of good play taking them to the Holmes Chapel try line. The Villagers quickly hit back with a penalty from Partington to make the scores 12-3 to the hosts. With the Holmes Chapel forwards playing at their very best again Holmes Chapel were unlucky not to cross their hosts line before half time and were then punished even further when the Bramley 9 took advantage or some poor defending to score under the posts and leave his kicker an easy conversion making the scores 19-3 as the teams went in for half time.

Wayne Scott and Danny Kennedy were bought on at half time for Neil Almond and Andy Partington respectively, Lee Cagna took on the role of fly half and the changes were pivotal as Holmes Chapel upped their game and started to fight back with the first try of the half when Kristian Clowes broke through the line at real pace to score out wide (conversion missed). With the scores now at 19-8 and Holmes Chapel in the ascendancy the last thing we needed was a score from Bramley, cue their electric winger who went flying over the line to take the score to 24-8. Up stepped Jed Wragg to show his opposite man he isn’t the only man with quick feet as Jed chipped over the rush defence and gathered the ball to score in the corner with Clowes adding the difficult conversion, 24-15 with 20 minutes to go and it was all still to play for. Bramley then did what they did well all day and came back at Chapel to extend their lead further taking the score to 29-15. After a series of penalties Bramley were lucky to continue with 15 on the pitch and Clowes stepped up and sent one of the resultant penalties through the posts to take the score to 29-18, Bramley then shut up shop for the remaining 10 minutes and the men from Holmes Chapel were unable to reduce the deficit further.

After the game Club President Dai Bowden said “The boys have done us proud today, they have performed well all season and deserve what they have achieved already this season”. Club Captain Ed Meyrick said “I’d like to thank everyone who came to watch, we really appreciate the support. We can now get back to our main focus of winning the League & Cheshire Cup double”

On Monday the 2nd XV travelled to Carrington in their penultimate league game of the season and came back with a convincing 27-7 victory to put them 2nd in the league with a real chance of promotion.

Next weekend sees the 1st XV return to league action as Parkonians visit Station Road in a must win game against very strong opposition. Parkonians are also bring their vets team along as they take on Holmes Chapel Vets at the Leisure Centre. The club is also holding a Ladies Day next Saturday from 1:30pm, with Champagne and Canapés as well as luxury Goodie Bags and a prize draw in aid of http://www.debra.org.uk/ After the game we will also be hosting our new Sponsors with a presentation of new shirts followed by the usual festivities and a trip around the village, we look forward to seeing you then.

Club training continues on Tuesday nights at 7pm, with Circuit Training at 8pm on Thursdays.
Holmes Chapel RUFC would like to thank club sponsors Pochin Construction, Electech, Auto Union Finance, Evadx, Tom Bagley Construction, and AWE Cheshire for their support. Please see the Sponsorship page of our website for more information on our sponsors.
www.pitchero.com/clubs/holmeschapel/?primary=theclub&secondary=sponsors