Goole Grind It Out At Glossop

Goole travelled to bottom of the table Glossop with an unchanged side and high expectations and came away with a hard-fought win in challenging wet conditions. If anyone thought that this was going to be an easy fixture they were mistaken as Glossop, with the slight breeze and rain in their favour, started the match on the front foot with Goole struggling to clear their lines. The first fifteen minutes being played in the Goole 22 following a series of scrums, lineouts, and charges to the Goole line by the robust Glossop pack. However, despite the territorial pressure and possession, the home team were unable to unlock the aggressive Goole defensive line and were held up over the Goole try line three times in this opening spell. They did however come away with the lead after kicking a penalty, although they would have been very disappointed to have just three points on the board after this early pressure. 3 – 0.
If Goole were strong in defence without the ball, they were pretty poor with it as they struggled to come to terms with the very wet conditions playing a high tempo game that did not suit the day. As a result, despite playing the remainder of the first half in the Glossop half of the field, they were unable to retain possession with sharp passes and tight offloads just not coming off, allowing the home team to clear their lines. However, any respite from the Goole possession did not last long with Danny Holt and Ollie Pearson returning the kicks with interest with a combination of good running and quality kicking. As the half progressed, Goole started to dominate and looked threatening a number of times, but the ball carriers ran into traffic and struggled to make ground against the solid home team tackling that forced errors. In the end Goole had to be content with a Rhys Moore penalty with the last kick of the half to bring them level at 3 – 3.

If the first half had been one of frustration, the second started brightly for Goole with early pressure on the home team defence but it was not long before the first half frantic Keystone Cops style of playing briefly returned letting the home team off the hook. Thankfully, after fifteen minutes of the half, composure returned as Goole put together their first real error-free passage of play allowing Moore to go over for a converted try from close range alongside the posts. 3 – 10.
Whilst the travelling Goole supporters may have hoped that this was the boost their team needed to go on and win the game handsomely, they were mistaken as Glossop came back strongly and were disappointed when a very kickable penalty was missed as they once again came away with nothing despite their endeavours. Thurlow and Louis Sugden were now off the bench, and it took a massive hit by Sugden to stop a Glossop heavyweight in his tracks as he charged to the Goole line. As in the first half, Goole defended strongly and started to kick for position deep into the Glossop half with an effective chase putting pressure on the Glossop defenders who were unable to deal with the situation as effectively as Goole had done throughout the first half. With Goole now having an attacking line-out near the corner flag, a top-quality catch and drive from the lineout enabling prop Lamb to go over for Goole’s second try that was converted by Moore to stretch the lead to 3 – 17 with ten minutes of the game remaining.
Will Devenish was now on a scrum half after George Bastow had the leave the field for cosmetic reasons, with a general back line reshuffle as Goole’s overall fitness started to give them a clear advantage. The positional kicks were working well and with the Goole scrum now going forward there was only going to be one outcome from this match as Goole pressed to get a try bonus point. They did manage a third try after good possession from a scrum on the Glossop 22 gave Billy Walker possession and space to run, but he fooled everyone when he put in a top-quality low diagonal kick to his teammate Ollie Pearson on the right wing, who gathered and scored the try. Whilst Walker was later ribbed that the kick was actually a sliced drop goal attempt, the outcome was just what Goole wanted as it gave a more realistic final score line 3 – 24 and four very valuable league points.
In summary, Goole were the better side, but credit is due to a very competitive Glossop side that dug deep and never stopped trying. Whilst the conditions played a great part in the overall poor quality on display, it did take some time for Goole to change their tactics that ultimately won them the match. Something to consider as we get to the more challenging winter conditions.
Despite the stuttering team performance there were some quality individual performances that saw Goole come out on top with James Chantry being Goole’s Man-of-the-Match for his overall contribution. Youngsters, Ashton Neal and Ollie Pearson had their best all round performances of the season with the rest of the squad putting in a hard shift in difficult conditions. In the end it was a very rewarding first time visit to Glossop who were excellent hosts, and we look forward to welcoming them to Westfield Banks in February to repay their hospitality.

Sorry no picture this week.