Battle Royale in the derby

Match Report by Richard Turner

The largest crowd of the season gathered at a bitterly cold Woodhead on Saturday to watch this traditionally hard-fought local derby. The majority of supporters for both sides were expecting another hard-fought battle between these two well matched sides in which Brods has had the upper hand in recent years and that is exactly what they got.

Brods kicked off down the hill but facing a stiff easterly breeze which was a leveller on the Hipperholme ground. Both sides started brightly and clearly highly motivated and it was the home side who had the chance to open the scoring with a penalty goal however the kick hit the post. The Brods forwards looked to be in the ascendancy retaining possession and, when Matty Briggs made a break from a quickly taken tap penalty, Crocs were on the back foot and a high tackle resulted in a yellow card for the Crossleyan player.

Brods continued to step up the pressure with signs of forward dominance particularly at the lineouts. Michael Briggs, always a threat in midfield was hit by another high tackle and a second yellow card against the visitors gave Brods the opportunity to take control of the game.

Brods chose to kick at goal however the kick went wide and Crocs responded most positively upping their game with just 13 on the field. An excellent kick deep into the Brods 22 meant the Broomfield boys retained possession at the lineout and from a subsequent scrum they ran hard and spread the ball right to their speedster who was in sufficient space to test the home defence. The young winger touched down in the corner and the visitors surprisingly held a 5-0 lead.

From the restart Crossleyans were back on the attack and Joe Gallagher took his opportunity to extend the lead with a penalty goal from 35 metres. Crocs were showing great pace in attack and quickly added to their lead with a second try down the right flank and, with Gallagher’s touchline conversion, the visitors held a 15-0 lead whilst playing with just thirteen men.

As the clock was ticking down towards half time Brods was desperate to register some points and resorted to their forward strengths with a marauding maul that charged infield from the 22 metre marker towards the line from a lineout. As all legal attempts to halt the drive seemed ineffective the increasingly desperate defenders pulled the maul down near to the posts and the referee awarded the penalty try.

The Hipperholme boys suffered a major loss when influential young Number 8 James Millington left the field with the recurrence of his shoulder injury. The referee played several minutes injury time and when Brods had the chance to kick deep into Crocs territory with a penalty they took their chance. With another mighty drive from the lineout the Brods pack rolled forward to split the defenders and Elliot Craven touched down under a pile of bodies. Brods were in touch at 12-15 and the stage was set for another hard fought second half.

With the advantage of the wind the home side had the territory and had the chance to take the lead with a penalty goal however the kick went wide. Brods was setting up an attack with Michael Briggs again carrying strongly in midfield however having lost the ball in the tackle it was clear he had suffered a leg injury and he was carried from the field on a stretcher. Thankfully it was later revealed that nothing was broken but Michael will clearly be missing for a number of weeks after sustaining ankle ligament damage.

With two key players now missing Brods were facing a mountain to climb as the visitors were clearly highly motivated and up for the contest. The Brods response was positive however and led by their young captain Craven the Hipperholme boys stuck to their task. The Woodhead boys again used the touchline as their friend and from a resulting line out their driving maul for the line once more split the defenders to take the lead with a try by Joe Kafatolu and conversion by Loketi Manu taking the score to 19-15.

Crossleyans was not done however and scored a good try following a quickly taken tap penalty. Good support play opened the home defence and the visitors once more took the lead with the conversion from under the posts; 22-19.

Craven once more encouraged his young side to rise to the challenge and the young hooker, now playing at centre, broke through in midfield to carry fully thirty yards and put the Woodhead boys back on the attack. Repeated penalties by the increasingly desperate Crossleyan defenders led to an extended assault on their line and after numerous efforts it was Loketi Manu who finally forced his way over the line to give Brods a hard earned victory.

Richard Turner