In an enthralling game Goole pushed league leaders Bradford Salem all the way but were not able to get their fourth try in overtime to secure what many may say would have been a well-deserved victory. The relief on the Salem players and spectators when they were awarded a late penalty to find touch and close off the game, was clearly evident. The Salem match report going further saying that “they somehow managed to close out the fixture”. Yet despite coming close to beating the league leaders, Goole only managed a solitary losing bonus point and will be disappointed following the wholehearted effort and commitment from all those involved.
It was the usual selection challenges for Goole but the return of Shaun Roberts, Charlie Walton and James Walton on the bench was a boost, but they still had an unfamiliar look with back rowers James Chantry and Robert Shand in the centre and Sam Wood making his first team debut on the wing. As it turned out, the centre partnership plus Roberts at off-half tackled like demons and limited the South Sea Island dominated Salem backs to a solitary try from winger Vasuitoga after 16 minutes 0 – 7. With the Goole forwards also nullifying the heavyweight Salem pack in open play, Goole gained territory and after failing to capitalise on earlier visits to the visitors 22, they managed a try from a 5m line out to get on the scoreboard 5 – 7 after the conversion hit the post. As a result of the lack of penetration through the Goole defensive line, Salem generally relied of gaining territory from penalties conceded by the home team. The outcome was a textbook catch and drive try from a 5m line out with the missed conversion bringing the score to 5 – 12. Despite the lead, the Salem players were penalised frequently for high tackles that brought them a total of four yellow cards throughout the match. Goole took advantage following one yellow card with a 5m tap penalty that saw Charlie Walton go over for an unconverted try that was followed by a long-range penalty by Rhys Moore to give Goole a well-earned half time 13-12 lead. The return of James Walton after a prolonged absence was just the boost that Goole needed but it couldn’t prevent Salem scoring two more textbook tries from 5m lineouts, both resulting from penalties conceded by Goole. 13 – 24. With Goole now being penalised on a regular basis, they struggled to get out of their own half but despite the territorial advantage, Salem laboured but were unable to add to their score as the Goole defence tackled low and hard to nullify the physical advantage that the Salem players had in just about all positions. Goole finally managed to get possession in the Salem half and were rewarded with a pin-point kick from Moore finding debutant winger, Sam Wood to go over for the try in the corner. The difficult conversion was unsuccessful. With no more scores the match ended with a hard fought 18 – 24 win for Salem thanks to a hat trick of tries by their hooker from 5m lineouts.
So, another close call with comments from the Salem supporters that “Goole are not a bottom two team” being scant reward from another totally committed performance from the squad. One could question the number of times possession was kicked away, but that will certainly change as players return from injury and get the team on the front foot with carries. Chantry and Shand were deservingly named as joint Man-of-the-Match with future performances of this standard being required to get Goole to a more comfortable league position.