Road Trip Success

This Saturday saw Holmes Chapel take the bus to Oswestry for the long awaited away fixture to north Shropshire. Chapel knew that they had set the bar high two weeks ago with a top notch performance and Captain Dom Moss was keen to recreate the intensity of that day.
The game started quickly, but poor conditions slowed down the feisty and mobile Holmes Chapel side. The boys in blue and gold found themselves in unfamiliar territory not being able to execute the expansive rugby they normally favour. This being said the Chapel side adapted quickly and secured ball well through some safe rucking. A nice period of offloads found young flanker Callum Grant-Smith in a favourable position and he managed to score five points. Andy Davies failed to convert leaving Chapel 5 – 0 up.
Oswestry came straight back out at Holmes Chapel and forced the visitors into a stalemate in the middle of the pitch. Turnovers for both teams and conditions forced errors and there were many scrums. A scuffed kick by the opposition saw a passage of play finish with Jack Cottam side step 3 opposition players and score a lovely individual try. This time Andy Davis managed to slot over a difficult conversion to take Chapel 12 – 0.
This second score really inspired the home team and Oswestry came at Holmes Chapel hard from the restart turning over the ball and camping on the Chapel 5 metre line. A very long string of strong defence from Holmes Chapel managed to keep Oswestry off the scoreboard for as long as possible with dual men of the match Dave Steer and Rob Moore leading the defence with some brilliant hits. Unfortunately after an unbelievable defensive period Oswestry’s hard work paid off and they charged the ball over the line for a score, the conversion was missed but Holmes Chapel felt less confident. This was reinforced when a penalty in their own half saw Chapel concede again. Oswestry 2nd XV 8 – 12 Holmes Chapel 1st XV.

The second half was even more arduous than the first for the thirty players on the pitch; conditions underfoot were worsening drastically. Holmes Chapel captain Dom Moss managed to momentarily free his feet from the quagmire below and broke Oswestry’s backline. He slowed down when approaching the line but, with audible support from full back Wragg, was able to dive over for another five points. Not long after Moss doubled his tally and scrum half Davies converted both. After watching others wet their beaks over the whitewash; the prolific Wragg decided to get in on the act. Chapel were piling on the pressure with cute chips over the top to Oswestry’s seemingly unguarded left wing. Eventually Wragg seized the ball in space, fended off two oncoming Oswestrians and placed the ball down over the try line.

The Eagles were no pushovers on their own turf and fought back. A huge amount of pressure was directed between the Chapel posts. More huge hits from Steer and Moore held back the red and black advances. The Oswestry scrum half, seeing no way through the middle, shipped the ball out wide. A hefty overlap betrayed Holmes Chapel’s otherwise excellent try line protection. The Oswestry winger caught the slippery ball in plenty of space and juggled it close to the ground. He just managed to get a fingertip hold of the ball before diving on top of it to give his team a well-deserved score. Holmes Chapel’s top try scorer Wragg refused to be outdone by back-row forwards and scored a great individual effort before the match came to a close. Oswestry 2nd XV 15 – 43 Holmes Chapel 1st XV.

The score line possibly undermines how tough an opponent Oswestry proved to be, and this certainly was not an easy victory for table toppers Holmes Chapel. After the game Oswestry proved to be excellent hosts and a club which Chapel look forward to visiting again soon. The man of the match award was split this week between props Rob Moore and Dave Steer. Their defence was sublime throughout and they did not miss a tackle between them. Holmes Chapel would like to thank their hosts Oswestry for a great day. Also deserving of thanks are all of Holmes Chapel’s sponsors Pochins, Bulcon, AWE Cheshire, EvadX, J.K Ashbrook, RVM, London Road Fish Bar and El Fourno. Special thanks go to Bulcon for sponsoring our bus journey to Oswestry. Details of all sponsors can be found on our website.