Aldwinians fall short

ADM Premier Division: Fleetwood 13-8 Aldwinians

Aldwinians made the trip to a damp Fleetwood last Saturday full of expectation on the back of two wins.

From the kick-off, Aldwinians conceded a penalty for not rolling away and Fleetwood kicked to the corner.

James Summerscales stole the Fleetwood line-out and Aldwinians cleared their try-line.

Fleetwood then conceded a penalty in front of their posts for offside.

Tom Hughes kicked the penalty for an Aldwinians lead on 12 minutes.

From the kick-off, Aldwinians conceded a penalty for not releasing and allowed Fleetwood the chance to draw level immediately, however, the Fleetwood kicker pushed it wide.

Fleetwood then continued to attack and keep the pressure on Aldwinians.

From scrappy play from another poor Fleetwood line-out, the home side’s scrum half was able to feed the 10.

He managed to force his way over, despite two tacklers attempting to halt him, to score a try which he converted to make the score 7-3 after 19 minutes.

That was the score at the end of the first half but, five minutes before the break, the referee felt Matt Baker had tripped a Fleetwood player and he was yellow carded.

The second half saw a continued arm wrestle between the two sides.

Aldwinians looked dangerous when the ball was spun wide.

But continuous penalties or handling errors allowed Fleetwood to remain in front.

Following a speculative kick down field, Aldwinians conceded a penalty that Fleetwood converted to make the score 10-3.

As the game continued, Aldwinians began to assert their dominance in the set-piece.

They regularly stole Fleetwood’s line-out and constantly put the Fleetwood pack under pressure in the scrum.

From one of these midfield scrums, the backs moved the ball well.

Through quick inter-passing, Ollie Richardson was able to dot the ball in the corner to make the score 10-8 as the conversion was missed.

The game drew into the last 10 minutes and Aldwinians and Fleetwood continued to slug it out as the arm wrestle continued.

As Fleetwood attacked the Aldwinians’ 22, a counter ruck was deemed by the referee to have been from the side.

Fleetwood took the opportunity to extend their lead and kicked the penalty to make it 13-8.

Despite more penalties late in the game, that was how it finished.

Aldwinians had come close to a good victory away from home and were just short at the end of the game.

Daniel Lyons