Young Rangers turn in best display yet
Meltham U-8s 20,
Brighouse Rangers 32
THIS game marked a return from injury for Jamie Bullock whose reappearance alongside Alfred Allsopp completes probably the most natural forward pairing for any under eights team in the region. But while Rangers can now field a team of eight young hopefuls, Meltham had 13 warming up before the whistle.
The home side began with a solid defence and Allsopp’s first drive gained little momentum. Meltham were able to close down rapidly any move Brighouse had to offer in the first six plays and neither Chris English Melvin nor Darryl Lappage’s darting and penetrating runs offered any of the usual defensive confusion fans of this upcoming team have become used to enjoying.
Breaking out, the big guns of Sam Manning and Jacob Doughty did little to effect Rangers claim to yards up the field.
If Meltham thought they had the upper hand, however, they were quickly disappointed the Rangers defence was easily equal to them and the game quickly became a war of determination and guile as it was clear that no one was going to give away tries easily.
Rangers broke the deadlock midway through the first half as Lappage opened the game up when finally his vision and speed beat the Meltham defence as if it had never been there and scored in the centre of the try line.
Moments later after another foiled Meltham attack, Doughty pulled off almost the exact same move with at least the same tenacity.
Meltham weren’t to be denied and responded with some rapid attacks up the wings but it was Rangers that closed the first half with the upper hand after Doughty sprinted the entire width of the pitch for a try saving tackle that launched the Meltham winger clean off the pitch with inches to spare.
The second half was when the game truly came alive. Meltham, with the advantaged of being able to dip into a pool of five substitutes, could turn up the heat while Rangers, with no subs, had little choice but to endure it.
And endure they did and then some great rugby. Sam Richards, with his ability to duck under much bigger players flailing tackles reaped rewards. Jamie Bullock and Allsopp offered Meltham a lesson in underestimating the forward players, most notably after a cheeky little lay off from Bullock gave Allsopp the space to gather momentum and he found himself gaining big yards with more than half of Meltham dragging in his wake.
Manning and Doughty let virtually nothing past them along the wings whilst Lappage and English Melvin flew the flag for centre play with a defence and attacking consistency that was breathtaking in such heat.
Right in the centre of every Rangers attack and defence stood half-back Ethan Thomas whose communication ensured the team kept its shape in spite of Meltham's pressure and it was surely his ability to pick the right man at the right time that created the best of Rangers' most successful attacks.
This Rangers display was heralded by the spectators as probably their best performance. This team has developed a readily definable shape and their skill and determination was evident here.
Player of the match was Doughty for some beautiful off loads leading to others scoring and a consistently powerful performance.
This was illustrated most clearly at the end of the game when in an exact mirror image of the move he completed at the end of the first half, one of Meltham's players sprinted the entire width of the pitch for a tackle that may well have knocked Doughty clean off the pitch had the home defender not bounced off his frame as he slid in to the corner for the final try of the game.
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Weather for Halifax
Thursday 24 May 2012
Today
Sunny spells
Temperature: 11 C to 18 C
Wind Speed: 12 mph
Wind direction: North east
Tomorrow
Sunny
Temperature: 11 C to 18 C
Wind Speed: 24 mph
Wind direction: East
