Hillmen survive late onslaught to take victory

North One West: Glossop 5-0 Broughton Park

When Glossop visited Broughton Park in November’s reverse fixture, only six points could separate the two teams, with Glossop prevailing 10-16. 

With this in mind, it was no surprise to see another closely fought encounter at Hargate Hill on Saturday, with the match dominated by two stern defences, as the 5-0 full time score line suggested.

Whilst scoring chances were at a premium, the sizeable home crowd were treated to some excellent defensive play from both the hosts and the visitors. 

The first half started with Glossop playing against the breeze towards the clubhouse. 

The visitors’ lively halfback pairing used the conditions well, and the Glossop back three of Horsfall, Hughes and Caine were kept on their toes with a number of testing kicks over the top. 

Possession changed hands frequently in the first half and Broughton Park looked to have scored, only for play to be brought back for a forward pass. The visitors had another chance to take the lead on 15 minutes but a penalty attempt at goal narrowly missed. 

However, midway through the first half Glossop were able to break the deadlock. Following some patient build up play, fly half Tom Dearnaley kicked cross field where No.8 Dave Stanley gathered. He linked up with fellow back rowers, Edwards and Chabas, with the latter scoring wide on the right. The tricky conversion against the wind was missed but Glossop took the lead: 5-0. 

The remainder of the half went without incident with the majority of the play being held to the middle third of the pitch. 

The second half delivered more of the same. Glossop used the conditions well and Dearnaley’s kicking game offered Glossop some good field position. Frustratingly, this work was all too often undone by unforced errors from The Hillmen. 

Broughton Park enjoyed a ten minute spell where they mounted pressure on the Glossop try line, varying their assaults through close quarter forward carries and shifting the ball wide to try and find a gap in the home defence. They failed to break down the stubborn home “Blue Wall” defence, however and eventually Glossop were able to turnover possession and clear their lines. 

Dearnaley took on a difficult penalty attempt on 65 minutes, but his long range effort was pushed just wide. 

As the game entered a tense finale, Broughton increased their tempo through a number of quickly taken penalties as they pushed to snatch a late victory. 

Dearnaley’s impressive performance with the boot was marred when he was shown a red card after being involved in a fracas off the ball. 

With added impetus, Broughton spent the last few minutes probing at Glossop’s depleted defence, but as was the order of the day, The Hillmen stood firm and saw out a fiercely competitive encounter.