Chapel Win Mid Table Battle

This Saturday Chapel welcomed fellow mid-tablers Whitchurch to station road. The form book favoured the home side but Chapel knew there is no easy game in this league.

The pre-game run through were nothing to shout about and conditions meant there were plenty of dropped balls through the warm up. However, the home side started well and had a period of extended pressure which led to a penalty. Fly half Stewart Butters found the corner and put the home side in an excellent position. Will Mitchell fired a lovely ball into the line which resulted in a well-structured maul. Chapel made 5 yards before flanker David Steer rolled off the blind side and flattened the away side’s winger to score the opening try. Unfortunately, the home side were unable to maintain their control and a number of strong carries from the Whitchurch boys pushed Chapel deep into their half. Some ill-discipline kept Chapel there and eventually a mistake allowed the away side in to score. Chapel had a couple of half chances including a close call when winger Kirk Drummond chased through onto a kick by centre Harry Snape but the covering defender arrived a split second before the Chapel winger. It wasn't long before Chapel went back to basics and their forwards began to dominate, another well worked lineout move put powerful prop James Hamilton in space and he was able to boulder over. He quickly added his 2nd from the back of a ruck. The away side came back again with some pressure of their own, however some excellent defence from winger Mark Stuart and second row Dan Martin kept them at bay. A lapse in communication allowed the away side a chance from a lineout and they were able to close the gap at half time to just a point.

Coach Johnathan Stanway urged the lads to be more physical around the rucks and to tie in more defenders in that area. He made a couple of changes with debutant Kyran Davies coming on to the wing and flanker Joe Foulkes coming on in the back row.

Chapel had responded well to the half time team talk and were stretching the Whitchurch defence. A lovely bit of play from Conor Gavin and Joe Baskerville gave Kyran Davies his first touch of the game, with that he was able to race over and score his first ever Holmes Chapel try. His second touch was equally as effective when he pounced on a defensive error and scored his second try. Chapel seemed to become complacent after this period of great play and the discipline deteriorated which allowed Whitchurch to drag themselves back into the game. They came within 3 points with 10 minutes to go. Centre Luke Blagbrough and 2nd row Mark McEnaney were putting the home side back on the front foot with some big carries. This pressure soon led to points when centre Harry Snape put skipper Dom Moss in with a perfectly timed pass. This was enough for the home side to see out the game. A 33-23 win which keeps Chapel joint 4th.

Some moments of brilliance throughout the game with some excellent tries scored. Chapel are improving each week and the structure coach Johnathan Stanway is putting together is starting to show.

Man of the Match went to Jim Hamilton who scored 2 tries from prop.