South win at Home

A last minute try by Will Sutton gave South a win that looked unlikely despite a very dominating display by the forwards as they forced Broadstreet to concede penalty after penalty, the visitors scrum was pushed back forcing it to buckle several times.
This was a powerful performance by the front row. Loose head Rod McNaughton also proved his versatility when he moved to the back row where he continued to be effective. Harry Morley came on as his replacement and continued the dominance in the scrums.
The rain which at one stage was so continuous that the ink on my note book ran nearly as fast as Calum Gunn on a dry day. The weather made handling in both the backs and the line out difficult which is why the packs performance was vital to the team.
Broadstreet opened the scoring with an early drop goal from Chapman as both sides found it difficult to put an imprint on the game. South's forwards gradually began to exert more pressure and at one stage had three catch and drives in Broadstreets 22 but somehow the visitors kept them out and they then promptly made inroads into South's 22 where they won a penalty which was taken quickly, Thatcher went over, Richards converted and now it was going to be hard for the home side. Rickie Aley pulled three points back with a penalty At HT the visitors led 10-3
South's pack continued in the second half as they had in the first half..The pattern became scrum, penalty scrum penalty, scrum penalty and resulted in a converted penalty try. 10-10. Continued pressure told and a scrum near to Broadstreets line resulted in a unconverted push over try by Chris Bale. 15-10 to South
The visitors though are a battling side and got themselves into a position where a penalty award saw Richards take the score 15-13 and then another penalty put Broadstreet into the lead. 16-15
With the final whistle about to sound Rickie Aleys chip found Will Sutton, who touched down in the corner, Aley converted and South had got the win the whole team deserved.
Mick McNeill