Kestrels
Matches
Sat 12 Oct 2019  ·  Northern & Western League
Cleckheaton RUFC
Kestrels
0
16
Harrogate Pythons 2
Kestrels 0 Harrogate Pythons 2XV  16

Kestrels 0 Harrogate Pythons 2XV 16

Geoff Akerman12 Oct 2019 - 16:27
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Kestrels slip to a first defeat

Kestrels unbeaten start to the season came to an end with a 0-16 reversal at home to a well drilled Harrogate Pythons.
The home team were under pressure in the early stages but some good clearing kicks by Jarrod Toulson and Ben Dearing kept the Pythons off the scoreboard. Dearing had an opportunity on 12 minutes to kick a penalty but that effort went wide and the chance was lost. It was becoming apparent that the larger pack of the visitors was starting to dominate the set pieces and possession was hard to come by. Steven Noble made a strong run and was supported by both the Kestrels second row forwards in Wood and Etchells but the final pass went to ground. Keiron Downs made good ground from full back but again strong defence prevented significant progress . The first score came on 36 minutes after Kestrels flanker Wade Laycock was sent to the sin bin and Pythons outside half Cooper kicked a 30 metre penalty. The same player should have extended the lead on the stroke of half time but the penalty attempt went wide and the game remained tryless at half time.
Kestrels started with some determination in the second half with replacements Bennett and Denham to the fore but a little bit of composure in the final third of the field could have paid dividends. Cooper missed another penalty on 50 minutes before Pythons captain had to leave the field with a what appeared to be a serious head injury. Kestrels were living off scraps of possession at this stage as the visitors pack dominated. Cooper kicked a simple penalty to extend the lead to 0-6 with 12 minutes to go.
Kestrels looked to get the ball out wide to try and getting what might have been a winning try but a long pass was intercepted and replacement Kememy raced 75 metres for a fine opportunist try , 0-11 . A series of penalties were awarded against the Kestrels as the game went into added time. Cooper added a second try to give the score a lop sided look which didnt really reflect the intensity of the game. Kestrels will regroup after this defeat and will be stronger next time out.

Match details

Match date

Sat 12 Oct 2019

Kickoff

15:00

Competition

Northern & Western League

League position

2
Cleckheaton 2
8
Harrogate Pythons 2
Team overview
Further reading

Team Sponsors

Shirt Sponsor - Bar Products and Services
Programme Sponsor - Northern Game Feeds
Programme Sponsor - Croft Financial Services
Programme Sponsor - Junction 26 Bedshop
Programme Sponsor - CE Bennett & Sons
Sponsor - Burnhills
Programme Sponsor - WHEB
Programme Sponsor - Flexitallic