Leaders Brods sneak home in points-fest derby showdown

Yorkshire One leaders Old Brodleians emerged victorious from a points-laden derby showdown with Old Crossleyans, eventually winning 45-42.
Brods and Crocs do battleBrods and Crocs do battle
Brods and Crocs do battle

In excellent conditions, Brods chose to play up the hill and it was their visitors who pressed early, Eddie Cockroft taking advantage to kick them into a 6-0 lead with two penalties.

A promising Brods move was then spotted by Crocs’ Chris Vine, who intercepted and raced away from the cover to score under the posts and further extend the lead, with the conversion by Cockroft making it 13-0 lead after just 11 minutes.

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From the restart, Brods took the game deep into Crocs territory, releasing Chris Georgiou and he took full advantage breaking two tackles to crash over near the posts.

He converted his own try to keep Brods in contention at 7-13 and from a scrum in the Crocs half they produced a set move from the training pitch which saw Jason Dodd release Dom Georgiou, who hugged the touchline to cross in the corner and make it 12-13.

A speculative Crocs kick and a good chase by Mathew Beswick saw him dive on the ball for another try, Crocs extending their lead to 12-18. Crocs’ Joe Gallagher then put Josh Hunt over, 25-12.

But a close-range score and an excellent conversion from Georgiou left Brods in touch at 19-25 at half time.

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Brods took the early initiative after the break with Bob Sykes finishing off a driving maul to close the gap to 24-25.

Crossleyans confidence was high and some good handling created space for their right winger to finish well, pushing the score out to 24-30 as Crocs earned a try scoring bonus point.

And they extended their lead when a clearance kick by Brods was returned from deep and eventually touched down near the posts, with the conversion making it 24-37.

It looked game over when Crocs made another interception for a 24-42 scoreline, but with 20 minutes still to play Brods dug deep to take the game to their visitors.

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First, Alex Dawson crashed over wide out and Georgiou’s conversion brought the score back to 31-42.

The forwards then battered the visitors’ line and Joe Kafatolu touched down. With the conversion, Brods were within range of the lead again.

Finally, Dom Georgiou crashed over when the ball was moved to the left, giving Brods the lead for the first time and Georgiou’s conversion secured a vital win.