No back-to-back wins for Stockport

Stockport failed to make it back-to-back National League 2 North wins as Broadstreet won 55-24 at the Ivor Preece Fields.

Two tries from Andrew Murray gave Broadstreet a 10-0 lead and they were followed up by scores from Jack Gibbons and two from Gareth Turner.

Stockport’s Paul Millea did touchdown before the break, but his side trailed 27-7 at half-time.

Port centre Ashley Platt-Hughes crossed just after the restart and when Elliot Fletcher scored on the hour mark, Stockport were mounting a serious comeback.

However, two quick tries from Ransford Otutaha and Benjamin Cooper killed off any fightback from Stockport.

Chris Barlow did get a consolation for Port, but Murray and Turner scored once again to round off a dominant display from the hosts.

Stockport coach Matthew Bebbington said: “We just didn’t match them physically for the first 25 minutes. We didn’t get our defence right which gave them a couple of tries.

“In the middle 40 minutes, we blew them apart with our tries which shows we were happy with the ball today and made some good line breaks, but we didn’t match that intensity when we didn’t have the ball.

“We could have kicked on when we scored those two early tries in the second half. We got done for a penalty on their five metre line and we waddled back. They took a quick tap and made 90 metres and there was a try soon after that. We didn’t stay focused.”

With this defeat, it means Stockport have not won a game away from home all season and also they unfortunately could not capitalise on an excellent victory over Otley two weeks ago.

The signs were there early on that this was going to be another tough afternoon on the road for Port as Murray gave ‘Street a 10 point lead after six minutes with two wonderfully crafted tries from the backs.

Port’s heads seem to drop after this and they were found wanting in their defensive work. Broadstreet were shrugging off Stockport tackles and were being allowed to offload off the floor on regular occasions.

With captain Andy Fuller and Craig Anthony missing from the front row for Port, their power was reduced and Broadstreet used this to their advantage for the rest of the half.

Midway through the first period Gibbons benefitted from a strong Broadstreet scrum to go over and gave his side a 17-0 lead with Cooper converting.

Broadstreet had controlled the possession, but Stockport did manage to get their first points on the board from their first real attack of the game as Millea powered his way over from a rolling maul.

Port had a way back into the match, but the hosts had other ideas as they ran in two more tries before the break.

Once again, they used their clear advantage up front as Turner scored from a catch and drive from a lineout after Stockport just couldn’t clear their lines from their own 22.

Turner’s try was swiftly followed by Gibbons’ second as he also scored from a rolling maul to send his side in at the break with a 27-7 lead.

Stockport needed to get on top of Broadstreet early on in the second half to really announce themselves in this encounter and that’s exactly what they did.

They made a blistering start to the second half as Platt-Hughes went over after a well-timed pass from Fletcher and a superb offload by substitute scrum-half Sean Street. Platt-Hughes made it two conversions from two.

On 60 minutes, Stockport reduced the deficit to just eight points as Fletcher and Street worked well again for Port’s third try.

Firstly, Fletcher managed to use Street’s good defensive work to his advantage as he broke clear from just inside his own half.

He then produced a brilliant side step to evade the last tackler and was aided by Street’s intelligent decoy run, which allowed the impressive Fletcher to cross with ease.

Stockport had fought their way back into this game and straight from the restart they could have and possibly should have scored again as Broadstreet stayed strong in defence and forced Stockport penalties.

The home side then defused any comeback from Stockport as they scored two tries in three minutes; first from Otutaha and then from Cooper, as he glided through the Port defence after good dynamic work from his fellow backs yet again.

Barlow then claimed his second try in as many weeks for Stockport as quick ball out wide allowed him to score in the corner and secure just Stockport’s second point on their travels this season to make the score 41-24.

Broadstreet then sealed their win as Murray and Turner ran riot to score again as a tiring Stockport defence could not get anywhere near them.

Stockport host Leicester Lions next Saturday at Headlands Road. Kick-Off is 2:15pm.

Broadstreet:  Murray; Gregson, Carney, Otutaha, Tilsey;  Cooper ,Thatcher; Dodd, Worthington, Sandys; Crofts, Solomon, Turner, Martin, J Gibbons (capt).
Replacements:  Pearl, Foreman, Harrop, Tucker, S Gibbons

Tries: Murray (3), J Gibbons (2), Turner (2), Otutaha, Cooper.
Cons: Cooper (5)

Stockport: Fletcher; Tennuci, Platt-Hughes, Kaciubskyji, Hall; J Edwards, Batterbury;  Graham, Millea, Longmore; Eccles, Waddington; A Green, Marsland, S Green (capt).
Replacements:  Broadhurst, Gill, Roddy, Barlow, Street.

Tries: Millea, Platt-Hughes, Flecther, Barlow.
Cons: Platt-Hughes (2)