Close Call in Pizza Cup

Goole entertained Stockport based Burnage RFC on Saturday in the 2nd round of the controversial Papa John Regional 2 Northern Plate competition and came away with a hard fought 29 – 22 victory, in what was a very entertaining match. With both teams playing at Level Six and Burnage beating Morley in the previous round this was always going to be a challenging fixture, and that is how it turned out with both teams playing quality rugby and the final score being in doubt until the final whistle.
The return of the Smith brothers was certainly the boost that the Goole supporters welcomed, with Matty Lill dropping to full back and Will Townend starting at 8. The team selection being very well supported by the quality replacements on the bench. With standing water on the pitch once again putting the match in doubt for a while, the game kicked off in almost perfect conditions and Goole got just the start they wanted with Billy Walker gaining possession from the kick off to get Goole on the front foot and score with their first visit to the Burnage 22. James Chantry using his strength to get over the line despite the efforts of two defenders, to open the scoring and gain a 7 – 0 lead after Tom Holt’s successful conversion. From the restart It was the away team that took the opportunity to show their quality with pace and fast hands from the three-quarter backs looking extremely dangerous as Goole were forced to defend their line. A three-point penalty being scant reward for Burnage’s endeavours, 7 – 3, but they were not to be thwarted for too much longer with a mid-field break from their impressive off-half. A straightforward off-load to support and a converted try under the posts giving them the lead 7 – 10 after just 13 minutes.
The game then calmed down from the frantic start with Burnage still having the edge as Goole’s below par kicking once again caused problems for themselves. Couple that with coming second best in the scrums where they were penalised numerous times, Goole doing well to come through this spell without conceding. It got even better as they retook the lead when Charlie Walton powered over from close range after 36 mins. 12 – 10. With the clock winding down towards half time a loose ball in midfield was hacked on by Oscar Sugden into the Burnage 22 where Goole were awarded a penalty that was quickly tapped for the impressive Eddie Newsum to go over near the corner for an unconverted try to bring the half time score to 17 – 10.
Significant half time changes were made by Goole with a new front row including youngster Ollie Sugden, in addition to Connor Walker in the back row. With Louis Sugden also joining the fray it was a special Sugden family achievement with three brothers, Ollie, Louis and Oscar in the same first team.
It was Burnage that started the 2nd half with a determination to get back into the game and it did not take them long with a re-run of their opening try created by the Burnage off-half who pierced the Goole defensive line once again to pop a simple pass to his support to go under the posts and level the game at 17 – 17. To Goole’s credit they then took the steam out of the away team attack and played some of their best rugby of the match to retake the lead following a strong carry by Connor Walker and a resulting try by Goole’s Man of the Match, Shaun Roberts who went under the posts with an easy conversion giving them a lead 24 – 17. Despite the setback, Burnage’s response was impressive as they spent some time threatening the Goole try line from 5m lineouts and scrums, backing themselves to come away with the try when, on reflection, kicking the points may have brought them the lead they chased. Their forward related charges to the line being much less threatening than the lightening passing and movement from the backs. The Burnage fullback was now also becoming a threat to the stretched Goole defence in open play as the away team backs once again penetrated the Goole defensive line to score out wide with the unsuccessful conversion bringing Burnage to within two points at 24 – 22 as the game entered its final stages. In the end it was a Burnage error that gave Goole the match-clinching score when they kicked directly into touch from a goal line drop out. The resulting 5m scrum got Goole possession and following numerous phases it was Matty Lill that drove over from close range to score. A successful conversion would have won the game for Goole but as it was unsuccessful, and at 29 – 22, the game was still alive as Burnage sought the converted try that they needed to take the game into overtime. Whilst Goole pushed Burnage back into their own 22 as the clock wound down, the home team supporters could not relax due to the backline threat that Burnage had demonstrated throughout the game. A late yellow card for Sam Smith did not help the anxiety that was evident amongst the Goole supporters, and they were relieved at the final whistle with Goole deserving the win outscoring the opposition by five tries to three in what was a highly entertaining game from two quality teams
Goole’s reward is another home tie in the ¼ final against Firwood Waterloo from Liverpool. Saturday 27th April KO 3.00pm.