Town try seals Brods success

Old Brodleians secured an excellent 32-18 victory over a robust Dinnington side in South Yorkshire and played some of their best rugby of the season.

Phil Town’s score deep into stoppage time at the end gave Brods a four-try bonus point and they stay seventh in Yorkshire One ahead of next weekend’s visit from Old Crossleyans.

The visitors’ pack worked tirelessly to give their backs the majority of possession and overcome the substantial slope they faced in the opening 40 minutes.

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Dinnington, crushed 44-13 in the first meeting, showed their intent in the opening exchanges and opened the scoring with a penalty for offside after six minutes.

Brods responded well and with Luke Scrimshaw leading the pack from No 8 the Hipperholme boys worked their way up the field.

Liam Stapley was proving a handful for the home team and his break in midfield was supported by Joe Matafolu. The young Kiwi produced an incredible effort, driving to the posts before releasing in the tackle, picking up again and forcing his way over the line despite the attentions of several Dinnington defenders. Town converted to give Brods a 7-3 lead after 10 minutes.

Brods continued to dominate play and gained good territory through the strong running of Cameron Wroot.

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The Hipperholme boys held up over the try line following a good period of pressure.

Brods were also dominant in defence and did not allow Dinnington’s steam roller of a pack to gain any momentum.

With five minutes to half time the home side worked their way to the Brods 22 and looked to take on the Brods scrum after a penalty kick to the corner. The Woodhead boys repulsed several powerful drives before turning over possession and clearing. Dinnington were penalised at the ensuing ruck and Town was on target from 40 metres.

The home side hit back at the start of the second half. Following a penalty kick to touch they secured good ball from the lineout and their bulky forwards worked hard to commit the Brods defence before breaking blind and touching down for a well worked try. The conversion was missed but it was game on 8-10.

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The visiors immediately took the initiative through Alex Murphy, whose strong running was a feature of the game. With good field position Brods took advantage. They were camped on the Dinnington line and after several phases of play Jimmy Hodkinson touched down and Town converted to extend the lead to nine points on 48 minutes.

The Woodhead boys looked to have the extended their lead when Matty Hoyle touched down in the corner but play was brought back for a forward pass.

Penalties were exchanged and with five minutes to go and the score line standing at 11-20, the game wasn’t over. However, following more pressure from the Brods pack on the home try line, Benny Pritchett smashed his way through the defenders to register the visitors third try of the game. The conversion was missed.

Five minutes into added time a Brods clearance kick was charged down and a converted try looked to have given Dinnington a losing bonus point at 18-25.

However, from the restart Danny Chappell broke through the tiring Dinnington defence before releasing Town, who beat the remaining defenders to touch down. Town added the extras.