SCUNTHORPE 51 BRIDGNORTH 48
As the score suggests this was a feast of rugby with a total of 15 tries being scored at a sunny Heslam Park. The Greens suffered from the referee’s whistle, in the first half particularly, but it turned out to be the clincher with the last play of the game.
It was Josh Lugsden who got the scoreboard rolling with the first of his 4 tries after eight minutes. Scunthorpe stole the Bridgnorth line out and moved the ball quickly along the backs. Great inter play between Tom Foster and Lugsden moved the ball 50 metres when finally Lugsden scored in the corner. Josh Clarke scored the conversion. Scunthorpe continued to get the wrong side of the referee and give away silly penalties. In the space of about 10 minutes Bridgnorth scored three unconverted tries. Scrum half Blaydon scored the first from a ‘catch and drive’ line out. Then came another chance for Scunthorpe. Ben Hyde galloped down the touch line after another line out steal. Support was available but somehow the ball got turned over. Bridgnorth countered and went all the back to score through wingman Burgess. The errors continued and allowed centre Szczepanski in. A silly kick gave the ball away and then some poor tackling allowed the strong running centre to get the touchdown. Scunthorpe had gone to sleep and needed to stem the tide otherwise the game would get away from them. Some fortune came their way when Bridgnorth No.8 Molitika was yellow carded. Tom Foster kicked to the corner to gain the line out. The Greens retained possession and with some patience kept looking for the opportunity to score which they did through Jake McKay. Once again Josh Clarke slotted over the conversion. Tim Robinson’s men had come through the bad patch and scored a penalty, again from the trusted boot of Clarke. Once again the pack stole a Bridgnorth line out in their own 22. The moved the ball down the pitch from a penalty. The pack drove on and all Bridgnorth could do was pull down the maul to give away the penalty. Scunthorpe were back in the lead, 17-15, and went on to score another Lugsden try just before half time. Jack Brunt took a quick penalty and the pack drove on. The ball was moved wide and Lugsden weaved his way through the defence to score a lovely individual try. Clarke kept his 100% record and slotted over the extra two. However that was not the end of it, this was one of those games when the teams didn’t defend that well and when one team scored the other decide it was their turn! The last play of the half saw Bridgnorth flanker Callum Bradbury score, this time fly half Murphy got his sights right and scored the conversion. Half time 24-22.
The second half carried in the same vein. One minute in Lugsden scored his hat trick try. From the kick off Scunthorpe retained possession, there was a kick and chase from half way and Josh’s pace allowed him to win the race to the touchdown. Clarke converted. Bridgnorth did likewise, from the kick off some poor Scunthorpe tackling allowed Szczepanski barrel his way over, Murphy converted 31-29. Three minutes later Jack Brunt got his second try. Scunthorpe were up for it now and the challenged straight from the kick off. Bridgnorth gave away another penalty. Scunthorpe went to the reliable line out, gathered the ball and Brunt snook through the middle of the maul to score. Clarke converted. Then more or less straight after the best try of the game was scored by Scunthorpe’s own ‘Billy Whizz’ Josh Lugsden. It was from the kick off once again, the ball was moved wide between forwards and backs. Jack Brunt was looking like getting wrapped up and then a touch genius saw him slip the ball out the back of the hand and the rest was inevitable as Lugsden raced away to score his fourth try. Clarke converted and at 45-29 the Greens looked very comfortable. Unfortunately there was still 30 minutes to play and anything could happen. The first event was a yellow card for Gareth Mist. This put the scrum under even more pressure and Bridgnorth used this to their advantage scoring two tries in quick succession by exploiting the home side vulnerability at the set piece. A penalty try looked inevitable but Scunthorpe managed to get away with it. Eventually Zach Xiorouppa and Adam Stirling both recorded tries from scrum time. Murphy managed to convert one and get within four points. Another yellow card for Al Fagan didn’t help things but to be fair Scunthorpe battled hard and kept Bridgnorth at bay as they battered the green line. From a Bridgnorth penalty on 78 minutes Scunthorpe retained the line out possession they were ten metres out with the referee’s arm out indicating a penalty. The ball came back to skipper Foster who converted an excellent drop goal. Would it have been better to take the penalty and use up the clock – only time would tell? Bridgnorth made one last valiant effort when they clawed their way into the Green 22 and somehow the defence could not keep them out with Bradbury scoring the try and Murphy converting. The scores were now tied at 48-48 and some might have said that was probably a fair result. But with the referee playing enough extra time for Josh Clarke to step up and complete his man-of-the match performance. The penalty was within his range and the pressure was on, however he stepped up as cool as you like and completed an outstanding day with the boot. A 100% record and 18 points was certainly a match winning effort for the young man.