Chapel Deteated In Top Of The Table Clash

Chapel knew the travelling Glossop would be a tough test. They were sitting at the top of the league for a reason and their first encounter had shown Glossop were by far the best side in the league. However, Chapel were able to name a strong side.

The game started with the away side in control of the game and this is how the game would be for pretty much a full 80 minutes. Chapel defended well as a 15 but the continued pressure and superior possession was going to be hard to overcome. The game stayed as a stalemate for the first 15 minutes before a missed tackle by captain Dom Moss allowed Glossop in for the first try. Chapel seemed to bounce back and took their turn to enjoy the possession. A penalty allowed Andy Davies to kick 3 points and drag Chapel into the game. A further 5 minutes of possession was in Chapel’s favour and they had 2 or 3 set pieces 5 metres out from the Glossop try line, unfortunately some strong defence and lack of accuracy in the set piece meant opportunities didn't turn to points. A cheap penalty allowed Glossop to stretch their lead with 3 points just before half time.

Coach Mike Cottam rallied the boys at half time and asked for the set piece accuracy to improve. Glossop had enjoyed superior possession but a lot of that was the result of a poor Chapel lineout and some handling errors. Chapel felt if this was rectified they had a chance of winning the game.

Mike's words clearly worked, and the boys started the second half the better team. Some heavy carries from the pack allowed Chapel to surge into the opposition's 22. However, again lineout accuracy gifted ball back to Glossop and they could exit. The mistakes continued to creep up and Chapel were slowly edged out of the encounter by a strong Glossop team who added a further 3 scores. The final score was 3-27.

Glossop were the deserved winners and clearly looked like promotion favourites. However, Chapel came off disappointed because if the lineout had functioned properly and handling errors were reduced then the game could have been much tighter. Chapel will attempt to rectify the issues at training and will hopefully come back a better side after the experience.

Good luck to Glossop on the league above next year.