U19S BLACK GROUP RESUME WITH FIXTURE AGAINST LEAGUE LEADERS

Carmel 41  Salford 32             Match Report – David Clegg

Four months after they last took to the field, Salford Red Devils’ Cat 3 Black Team resumed their outstanding fixtures with a visit to table toppers, Carmel.  In what would have been a difficult encounter, under most circumstances, for a team short of recent match practice it really was a big ask.

Despite this, as the scoreline shows, the players returned with relish for the task in hand, which was particularly noticeable in their attack which saw them notch a total of seven tries, for which goalkicker, Ellis Snelgrove added two conversions.  Unfortunately, too many of his attempts were from difficult positions, though even then, on of thos which he did kick was from the touchline.

It is, however, a tall order to keep in touch with the opposition when they are going up six points at a time, to your own four, on most occasions, especially in a game of nip-and-tuck, which this encounter turned out to be.

Understandably, after such a lengthy layoff, it took the Salford players some little time to settle and get back into their stride, and that enabled their hosts to take the initiative and take the lead, which immediately put pressure onto the visitors to try to catch up.

Although they were still in arears at half time, 22-10, they did eventually draw level midway through the second half at 28-28.  Sadly, an error, immediately from the kick off, gifted Carmel with possession with which they were able to pull away once more, rounding off the scoring with a drop goal.

Coach, Kevin Raynor, in his assessment of the game, referred back to the opening quarter as the portender of how the rest of the game was to shape up.

“We got off to a slow start, and as the scoreline shows, defences on both sides were found wanting on far too many occasions, so it seemed to become a case of either team scoring at will.  Part of the problem was the size of the pitch, which was a very large rugby union pitch, which consequently led to a lot of spaces for players to run through.

“There were some noteworthy performances from second rower James McKenna, hooker Dan Goddard, and prop Pat Johnson, while the try of the match was a full length of the field interception try from Ben Gore

“Carmel are the best side in that league and have already won the league trophy.  For us, therefore, it was a case of giving all our lads, who haven’t had a game for some while, a run out.  We are trying to arrange at least one further match for them in the next couple of weeks.”

SALFORD SCORERS

Ben Gore (3), Connor Aspey (2), Keiron Prescott, Connor Law