11:56am Friday 16th May 2008
By Sports correspondent
Congleton Rugby Club attended the Didsbury Toc H 10s competition on Saturday, and progressed further than ever before.
Congleton took a young side captained by the irrepressible Brierley, who played in all their games - even refusing to come off when injured!
In the first match Congleton met Longford Park and in a fast and furious game, and ran out victorious at 22 - 10.
Longford were rocked by some crunching tackles from Wood and Brierley and with the pace of Hart, Wales, Connorous and Dave Podmore the crowd saw four fabulous tries.
The new line-out moves proved successful, and Ridgeway linked well to the backs giving them room to run at speed.
Congleton then had to wait an hour before moving on to meet Kirby Lonsdale.
Congleton's game plan seemed to fall apart - they played into Kirby's hands by running at the big defenders instead of around them.
Congleton were losing 17 - 0 at half time, and with strong words from Coach Cardall and captain Brierley they started the second half in a better frame of mind.
A disallowed try by Wood unsettled Congleton again as they were getting the upper hand, and with a consolation try by Connorous Congleton finished on top but ran out of time to pull the game back The final score was Congleton 5, Kirby Lonsdale 17.
Congleton were disappointed by this loss, and began preparation early for the final group game needing a win to go further in the competition.
They met West Didsbury Gentlemen, and began the game at high speed.
They went back to the game plan of moving the ball wide, and ran in two tries in the first half both converted to lead 14 - 7 at half time.
The restarts saw Ridgeway Brierley and James Podmore like men possessed.
Wood was feeling left out, and managed to go on a few rampaging runs himself.
Congleton continued to dominate in the second half with two more long range tries, one from Dave Podmore, which saw him kick ahead and outstrip everyone to collect the ball and score under the posts.
Some hard work at the break-downs by Sommerfield and Thompson allowed Broderick quick ball to feed the speedsters outside.
The final score of 28 - 14 to Congleton saw them runners up in the group, and meant they were in the semi final knock out of the plate competition.
This match saw Congleton face their strongest opposition so far in a well-organised and skilful Manchester University side.
Congleton were on the back foot from the start when a breakaway try from Manchester took them by surprise.
Congleton dug deep, and with some strong running and defending from James Podmore things began to look up.
However the effects of three hard games began to tell on Congleton, and gaps appeared in defence, which Manchester took advantage of.
Congleton never gave up and threw themselves into every aspect of the game, but the game slipped away from them.
The final score was 31 - 0 to Manchester.
Congleton should be proud of their performance, which was light years apart from last year's competition, and with training continuing throughout the summer they can build for the Llangoed 7's in June.
The whole team played outstandingly well, with each one doing everything asked of them and more.
This can be summed up with the fact that Chris Davis was playing only two weeks after fracturing his ankle.
He never stopped running all afternoon, and was eager to get involved in every tackle.
This is the spirit Congleton have at the moment, and they are looking forward to next season.
Squad: Kyle Ridgeway, Mike Sommerfield, Nigel Brierley (c), Gregg Wood, James Podmore, Mike Broderick, Dave Podmore, Nick Wales, Ian Hart, Tim Connorous, George Rome, Ryan Jones, Scott Thompson, Alec Dewell, Chris Davis.
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