South mash the Greens although Scunthorpe played in red!

Scunthorpe were the first visitors to Welford Road in the new year. The pitch although sticky was in remarkable condition considering the amount of rain we have had lately.
South had Danny Graney starting at full back with Gareth Kerr returning on the right wing, Andy Harris at prop and Stu Bale in the engine room. Dave Weston, Aaron Turner and Rhod McNaughton made up the bench.

The visitors started the game in aggressive mood still smarting, no doubt, from the stuffing South handed out in the reverse fixture at Heslam Park back in September. South, however, weathered the initial storm and were on the attack when a lazy pass in midfield landed in the hands of the Scunthorpe skipper Tom Foster who consequently ran from his own 22 to score with Steve Johnson adding the extras. A late Christmas present in the extreme!

The shock seemed to galvanise South into action and they went on to score four tries, to gain the bonus point, in twenty minutes. Firstly Chris Bale was on hand to score a push over try as Scunthorpe went backwards over their own line after a series of scrummages. Joe Glover couldn’t add the conversion.
Simon Johnson was next on the scoresheet after a series of forward drives. His long arm stretch touching down under the posts. Glover added the extras.
Connor Smith exploited space on the left to add South’s third after good work by Andy Gates and Chris Bale. Unusually Glover failed to convert.
The bonus point gaining try just before half time was the best try scored by South this season and probably in the last few seasons!
From a midfield scrum Bale drove through the first line of the visitors defence on a powerful thrust, offloading in the tackle to Joe Glover whose slight of hand unleashed Gareth Kerr. He rounded his marker exchanged passes with Danny Graney and Lee Miller and dived over to score. Glover converted. The watching Leicester Tigers skipper Geordan Murphy was impressed and texted Steve Booth to congratulate South – praise indeed. The South faithful were equally impressed!
The interval was reached with South 24-7 in the ascendancy although Connor Smith didn’t take his place for the second half replaced by Dave Weston.

After a bout of handbags Lee Miller saw yellow from referee Claire Hodnett, but it didn’t stop South from adding to their lead. From another series of attacking phases in midfield Mark Lord’s long arm offload in the tackle put Kerr in for his second try. Glover added the conversion with a fine kick.
Andy Harris and Lee Miller were then replaced by Rhod McNaughton and Aaron Turner respectively.
The usual ten minutes of South slumber then kicked in as Scunthorpe came back with unconverted tries by Adam Middleton and Steve Johnson.
Normal service was resumed on the hour as Glover backed himself to touchdown from a quick tap penalty although his conversion was wide of the mark. As usual Captain Coltman was on hand at the back of the rolling maul to add the magnificent seventh try which Glover converted.
Harris came back on for Keiran Stone as Rewiti Vaimoso stepped his way to the line to score Scunthorpe’s fourth try to gain a bonus point which will obviously help their fight against relegation. Johnson, however, couldn’t add the conversion.
Speedster Kerr had the last word in injury time as he added his jug gaining third and South’s eighth try. Glover again couldn’t add the conversion.

Some excellent play by South intermingled with some indifferent periods and some lazy defence. It does, however, put South ten points clear of Nuneaton as they lost at Newport and six points behind Sutton Coldfield albeit both having a game in hand. Nuneaton host Sutton next week while South go to local rivals Hinckley for another pulsating local derby.
South faithful out in force, please, to cheer the boys on!

Apparently Josh McLaurin, Will Ward, Will Cave, Will Keeling and Sam Greasley are all fit and in contention for a place in the squad versus Hinckley. Selection dilemma or what!

Squad: Graney, Kerr, Clarke, Gates, Smith (Weston), Lord, Glover, Bale C, Johnson, Miller (Turner), Hurst, Bale S, Harris (McNaughton), Coltman ©, Stone (Harris)

Men of the match: Gareth Kerr (obviously), Simon Johnson for his turnover count and Dan Hurst for some powerful carries as first receiver.

Hoorah!