Brods overwhelm Phoenix in League opener
Match report by Gordon Feather
Saturday, 7th September, saw Brods open their league account in Regional 2 North East for the 2024/25 season, hosting South Yorkshire visitors Doncaster Phoenix. A stiff test was expected, as the visitors, formed from Doncaster RFC when Doncaster Knights became full time professional, had been relegated from Level 5 last season despite winning 6 games. Nevertheless, an expectant home support was looking for a good performance from the home side.

The pitch was in excellent condition, and weather conditions grey and autumnal when the Brods kicked off down the slope and into a modest breeze. From the kick off the visitors gathered and impressively broke to halfway where they forced a penalty for offside, kicking into the Brods 22 on the clubhouse side. From the line out eventually won by Phoenix, quick passing and strong forward drives saw the visitors open the scoring from a forward stretch to the left of the posts. The simple conversion saw the visitors ahead 0-7 after 2 minutes. With the Brods scarcely touching the ball to this point, this served as a wakeup call for the hosts.

From the resumption, a short period of ‘kicking tennis’ ensued before Brods knocked on when in a good position on the visitors’ 45 metre line. However, from the following Donny scrum the Brods were well up on their opponents and charged down a clearing kick from the Phoenix number 10 which fell fortuitously to Brods’ centre Doug Hesletine, who though still having work to do, sped clear from 40 metres to score a fine individual try touching down by the side of the posts. Kelly’s conversion made it 7-7 after 6 minutes after a breathtaking start.

The next period of play was characterised by mistakes from both sides with knock-ons, forward passes and kicks up and down field. The Brods were having the better of these exchanges with both Kelly and Georgiou showing up well. After 18 minutes a free kick from Kelly put the Brods within 5 metres of the Phoenix line. After the initial take and drive was repelled by the visiting defence the ball was spread to the backs where Harry Dunne powered over from close range. A conversion from Kelly put the Brods ahead at 14-7 after 20 minutes.

Play continued in the same vein with frequent dropped passes being made by Phoenix enabling Brods to force play. Another Brods attack saw the Pheonix fullback scragged metres from his line and the ref blowing for offside when another Brods try seemed on. The Brods forwards were gaining the upper hand with Millington performing well in the lineout and Cal Hesletine, Craven and Murphy driving hard. But back came Phoenix who were now retaining the ball much better and Brods gained welcome relief from a long Barron clearing kick. After a series of drives with the Brods pressing the visitors’ line, scrum half Hodkinson had to leave the field on 33 minutes with an arm injury to be replaced by youngster Leo Kemp. Pressure was maintained and after 36 minutes, elusive full back Georgiou wriggled free and scampered over in the left hand corner. A touchline conversion from Kelly, who had his kicking boots on today, brought the score to a comfortable 21-7, where it remained until half time.

The second half started with weather conditions now drizzling and Goodall and Smart entering the fray with Ashton and Culf taking breathers. The play was becoming scrappy but the Brods forwards kept the pressure on, keeping the visitors locked in their own half. The home threequarters were moving the ball well but were unable to make the final breakthrough with Kelly testing the visitors defence with a couple of delicate grubber kicks which almost led to tries. The deadlock was broken on 52 minutes with the visitors’ number 10 kicking a long clearance into Brods territory, to be fielded by the Brods’ Cyprus international, Dom Georgiou, who broke free, raced upfield, kicked over Donny’s last line of defence and picked up to score a wonderful solo try in the top left corner. The conversion was made by Kelly with a fine touchline effort making the core 28-7 and the Brods had their bonus point try.

From the resulting kick off the Brods once again started to attack but sloppy play allowed Phoenix to gain momentum and kick deep into Brods territory, Phoenix camped on the home line for the next period with the visitors forcing Brods’ errors leading to a succession of free kicks and penalties. It was no surprise that from a 5 metre lineout Phoenix drove over for a fine try on 60 minutes, the conversion taking the score to 28-14. The Brods faithful in the stand were unperturbed and still predicting the home side would score 40 points whilst others were less certain.

Further Brods changes were made with Hesletine and Ashton returning to the fray replacing Sealey and Culf. A few minutes later Ashton was stopped by a tremendous Phoenix hit and left the field to be replaced by the ever willing and dependable Joe Sealey who had just come off the field moments earlier. The visitors continued to drop passes and the Brods forwards were now in control with Goodall, Craven and Murphy driving hard. Pressure was once more being applied by the Brods forwards who were setting up a platform for the Brods backs. With Phoenix becoming more dispirited, from a 5 metre lineout Craven got the Brods drive on and evergreen Ryan Harris crashed over. Another touchline conversion from Kelly, who had had an excellent game, extended Brods’s lead to 35-14 with minutes remaining. However, Brods were not finished and after another forward drive and the ball moved across the back line, Georgiou once more made the half break before releasing speedy winger, Ethan Wroot, to race upfield and score in the right hand corner. Kelly converted making the score 42-14 after 80 minutes and no further scores were made before the full time whistle blew.

This was another excellent performance from the Brods’ squad, despite missing key players through injury. As for Phoenix it was not to be their day, with far too many errors being made. I am sure they will improve however, and be much more competitive in the games to come.