Bleak Weather, Bleak Result

Report Courtesy of Andy Partington

Last Saturday Chapel welcomed Capenhurst to Station Road. The weather was bleak and the conditions were sure to affect Chapel's expansive style of play.

The game started evenly with both packs coliding at full force. Capenhurst were dominating the scrums whilst the home side were edging the lineout. It wasn't the weather for shipping the ball wide and Chapel were struggling to execute their game plan, with handling errors leading to turnovers in play. The Chapel backs were persevering and Harry Snape and Michael Lightfoot were combining well off the set piece. The boys in blue and gold were dominating the ball in open play and a half break by Jim Moss nearly released Joe Baskerville but for a dropped catch. Some ill discipline led to the first points of the game kicked by Capenhurst. A reaction wasn't far off and a period of pressure led to Joe Foulkes crashing over the line from 5 metres out. A couple of penalties from either side meant this try was the difference between the teams at half time.

A lot of handling errors from both sides meant the game lacked any kind of rythym and this appeared to affect Chapel's style of play more than the away sides. Capenhurst were starting to get the rub of the green and a breakaway try put them in the lead. Stuart Butters closed the gap with some long range penalties. With 10 minutes to go the away side were awarded a penalty try which put them 14 points clear. Chapel refused to give in and some excellent play from the whole side allowed Mark McEnaney to crash over under the posts. There wasn't enough time for the home side to even the scores.

The game finished 20-27 to Capenhurst in a hard fought contest. The away side managed to control the conditions better and ended up with the result. Man of the match was Jim Bowbeer who put in a fantastic performance in the number 9 position.