Experience tells for Aspull against Tarleton

Tarleton Second XV faced another unbeaten opponent when they welcomed Aspull to Carr Lane on Saturday.

These matches have traditionally been hard fought and this fixture was going to be exactly the same. It was a nervous start by both teams and many early mistakes were made before Aspull opened the scoring with a kick and chase that wasn’t dealt with by the Tarleton defence, the kick was good and Aspull led by 7-0.

The game was disjointed and at times there were 20 referees on the pitch all chirping away and tempers were clearly getting frayed.  After 30 minutes Tarleton were awarded a penalty and this was quickly taken allowing Liam Thompson to open Tarletons’ account as he ghosted through the Aspull defence to score, Tarleton were back in the game at 7-5 down.

Aspull immediately put Tarleton back under pressure in their own 22, the defence held firm and a good turnover saw the ball picked up by Jamie Simpson who tore through the Aspull defence and gave a well- timed pass to Liam Thompson who cruised in for his second try, George Cook added the extras and Tarleton now led 12-7.

Aspull again used their big forwards to crash the ball forward but Tarleton held firm almost to half time but as Aspull camped on the 5mtr line Tarleton put too many players into the ruck and Aspull threw the ball out wide and scored in the corner. The score was now even at 12-12 and Half time was blown for.

From the kick-off Aspull again broke through the Tarleton defence using their mobile battering rams but they lost the ball forward and this was collected by Jamie Simpson who sold a dummy and ran in from 30 yards to score. The conversion attempt was missed but Tarleton were back in the lead by 17-12.

The turning point of the match came when the Aspull No. 20 kicked through again and chased the ball down and although there was a question mark about whether he actually touched the ball in the in goal area the try was awarded and a great kick from wide found Aspull back in the lead at 19-17.

Tarleton rallied at this point and started to play good 15 man rugby and a good run by Sean Gregson down the wing had Aspull on the back foot and as their defence were pulled across the ball was sent the other way and Ian Simcox ran through 2 defenders to score and restore the lead for Tarleton at 22-19.

Aspull then lost a player for a stamping incident and Tarleton should have taken control and played out the last 20 minutes using the extra man and making Aspull work hard and move them around the pitch. However, the sending off meant that scrums had to be uncontested and some of the advantage was lost as Tarleton continued to try and score through the forwards.

Aspull didn’t roll over though and another kick through caught Tarleton out again and Aspull regained the lead and led by 26-22 with 8 minutes left on the clock.

Tarleton could hardly get their hands on the ball in these last minutes and the wise old heads of Aspull were slowing the game down and winding the clock down until one of their forwards gratefully kicked the ball into touch for the final whistle to go.

This was a game Tarleton should have won but credit to Aspull, they stuck to their game plan and Tarleton got sucked in to playing along with it for far too long. Tarleton had the legs and superior fitness but didn’t use that to their advantage.

The bonus point keeps them in 4th. place and next week they travel to 3rd. place Penrith and need the victory to keep up with the current leaders.

The First XV maintained their 100 per cent win record with a 3rd straight victory away against Garstang a 35-10 victory keeps them joint top of the league and next week they renew their acquaintance with Hutton RUFC who visit Carr Lane.