Gainsborough All Blacks 12 Retford 2nd XV 14.
Gainsborough started their fixtures post Christmas with a match against a strong Retford side. The All Blacks have not beaten this local opposition for a long time and today proved to be no exception but never the less they gave a very good account of themselves, pushed and tested Retford and showed a lot of character playing open aggressive rugby right up to the final whistle.
The Gainsborough side showed a few changes, veterans Mark Goude and Wayne Sandall came in at fly half and centre respectively, Ronan played in the back row.
Both sides were watchful of each other for most of the first half, Gainsborough had territorial advantage and the ball in hand most of the time but they could not turn that advantage into a good solid lead only scoring one unconverted try before half time. The Gainsborough pack totally dominated the opposition in the scrum and won most of the line out ball. Retford answer to this was to claim they had problems with front row players and go to uncontested scrums and this proved to be the undoing of the All Blacks. The uncontested scrums took away the advantage for Gainsborough and Retford started to fight back from that point. The high points of the half was the dominant scrumaging, excellent performances by both props, Vernon Goude and Max Humphrey, both scumaged well and carried and tackled well in the loose but without doubt the most influential player on both sides was Ronan the All Blacks flanker, he regularly broke the gain line and every time he did he was well supported by Andy Turner the All Blacks Hooker. Ronan, Mark Goude and Elliot Humphrey were all very much involved in the try that gave Gainsborough the lead at half time but if they were to win they should have turned all that advantage into more points than they did.
The second half started out much the same as the first finished, a great break by Ronan supported by Andy Turner almost produced a try, and good attacking runs from Dawson and Humphrey, but all the time Retford were coming back into the game. With twenty minutes of the game left to play they created a try through their backs and touched down under the posts for a converted try to go in front. Gainsborough worked hard defensively to keep the visitors at bay, non more so than Andre Russell who put in a superb tackle to slow them down when he was almost the last line of defence, but the pressure paid off for Retford and they eventually scored their second try from a maul that crashed over the line, the try was converted and Gainsborough were now really up against it. Character shone through and full credit to all in the team they never gave up, Elliot Humphrey capped a fine display with a try on the left wing just before the final whistle, Sean parker converted but the All Blacks had lost by two points. A good display and clearly there is more to come from the side, they must learn how to deal with sides who slow the ball down and kill it at the breakdown.
Next week the All Blacks travel to Market Rasen, whilst the Maori are entertaining Retford 3rds. Both games KO at 2.15
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