Credit: Paul Cooke
Bach ease past rivals with emphatic eight-try display – match report by Rhys Fullerton
Crewe & Nantwich 1st XV 14-51 Sandbach 1st XV
Saturday 28th September – 3pm
Northern Division – Regional 2 North West
Newcastle Road, Nantwich
Sandbach took what will be their shortest away trip of the season as they visited neighbours Crewe & Nantwich on Saturday.
After last week’s hard-fought win, the Bach made two changes to their squad with winger Elliott Morris and back row Josh Brookes returning to the starting lineup.
Crewe & Nantwich were level on points with Sandbach, both having won two and lost one, and they would be hoping that home advantage would work in their favour.
Crewe & Nantwich kicked off and put early pressure on when they earned a couple of penalties in Sandbach’s half.
A big tackle from Sandbach’s second row Callum Oakden set the tone for the afternoon’s fierce contest and the Bach took control.
Sandbach earned a couple of penalties of their own and their first visit into Crewe & Nantwich’s 22 created the opening try of the day.
Crewe & Nantwich brought down the maul and Laurie Essenhigh, Sandbach’s scrum-half, took a quick tap penalty and weaved through the defence to score.
Henry Mitchell secured the conversion and Sandbach were leading 0-7.
Credit: Paul Cooke
Minutes later and Sandbach had returned to Crewe & Nantwich’s half and another series of penalties left them with a lineout 5m out.
The maul drove over the try line and the young hooker Will Bowbeer went down to score.
A few minutes later Crewe & Nantwich got on the scoresheet as they went quickly from a penalty.
The conversion nudged the scores closer at 7-12.
Sandbach were attacking again and putting pressure on Crewe & Nantwich.
After a swift tap penalty, Sandbach found themselves 1m out thanks to quick thinking from Essenhigh.
The scrum-half scooped the ball up from the ruck to find a gap and earn his second try. Mitchell duly converted to extend their lead.
Shortly after, Sandbach had two successive penalties from 5m out before the ball went wide to Josh Brookes who charged over on the wing for Sandbach’s fourth try.
A yellow card awarded to a Sandbach prop gave Crewe & Nantwich a brief route back into the game with the opportunity to score from the subsequent penalty.
They secured a try from a rolling maul and the successful kick moved the scores to 14-24.
With an extra player and scrum advantage, Crewe & Nantwich forced a series of penalties against Sandbach.
With too many penalties conceded, the referee gave Sandbach’s replacement prop a yellow card.
Crewe & Nantwich opted for another scrum and because Sandbach couldn’t field a suitable front row, they would have to play uncontested scrums, which resulted in them being penalised further and another player had to leave the field.
Sandbach were now down to 12 players but there was relief when a penalty was given against Crewe & Nantwich for obstruction and Mitchell kicked to touch to end the half.
Credit: Paul Cooke
As the second half started, Sandbach were still three men down and needed to be cautious in the opening minutes.
A strong Sandbach defence, despite the difference in numbers, would drive Crewe & Nantwich into touch, earning them a lineout.
Mike Egglestone ran with the ball and burst through some tackles and Brookes also made progress with ball in hand.
When a kickable penalty was awarded to the Bach, they sensibly took it. Mitchell calmly slotted the kick to add three more to the points to his tally.
Once they were back to 14 players, Sandbach had the momentum and confidence again.
They moved the ball fast along the line to find winger Matt Randle who was home free to score the first try of the second half.
On the attack, Crewe & Nantwich tried to catch Sandbach out with a grubber kick, but they dealt with and responded with their own attacking chip kick.
Credit: Paul Cooke
The ball made its way to Elliott Morris who breezed through to score. After the conversion by Mitchell, Sandbach extended their lead to 14-39.
The match was getting away from Crewe & Nantwich and Sandbach were enjoying themselves.
It wasn’t long before Morris scored his second try after some quick passing found him on the wing and he eased over to get the try.
Crewe & Nantwich took every opportunity to run with the ball, even if it were from their own half.
However, Sandbach’s onslaught continued and George Cole would score the eighth and final try towards the end of the second half, which Mitchell converted.
In the final seconds, Crewe & Nantwich wanted to attack, but a fumbled final penalty gave Sandbach possession and ended the match at 14-51.
This was a clinical and emphatic performance from Sandbach. Four games into the season, this youthful squad have shown their quality and will be relishing the chance go again.
Player of the match went to double try scorer Laurie Essenhigh.
With no matches on Saturday, Sandbach will welcome the break and will look to continue their winning run when they host Isle of Man’s Douglas at Bradwall Road the following week.
Next match: Sandbach 1st XV vs Douglas (IOM) 1st XV — Saturday 12th October – kick-off 3pm
