Hoppers got their first home win of the season and in the process recorded back to back victories beating Broadstreet at Lightfoot Green.
After a sluggish start they pulled away with an impressive second half performance running in five tries, all coming from back with wingers Sam Kendall and Lewis Allen crossing twice each.
This was a very different display to the two previous games which were forward dominated but the pack still played a large part securing quick ball and controlling the set piece.
Speaking after the game Garth Dew said; “We were not at the races in the first half, we were flat in the warm up and were soft in the first 10-20 minutes missing tackles and not following the game plan. But we had an injection of pace off the bench and we blew them away in the second half with an extra impetus and we could have scored 60 points. Credit for that must go to the backroom staff as Dave and Zav have done a great job with the conditioning of the lads.”
“The backs looked slick, which was good to see, Jack Ward had a really good game and Lloyd Davies looked dangerous with the ball in hand. Lewis Allen again played well out of position on the wing and had a real impact and created a number of chances. The scrum look strong and are benefitting from working with Alan Holmes, and being able to bring Andy Irving, Rich Morton and Phil Mills off the bench is a real plus. I was also really pleased with Chris Taylor who is an intelligent player and gives us a really solid base at number 8.”
Hoppers fell behind early as they made a mess of the opening kick-off allowing Broadstreet the ball in the 22 which Ben Cooper turned into 3 points with a penalty. It took Hoppers 15 minutes to get on the score sheet when Allen went over in the right corner after a nice pass from Davies, all set up by a strong line-out and a good burst through the middle from Brad Tuff.
Cooper would restore the lead for Broadstreet with his second penalty before a try against the run of play put them clear. They turned the ball over near their own line and nice hands eventually put full back Nathan Tilsley over for a well worked score.
Hoppers responded well and got a try just before the break with Davies at the forefront with a scything break before setting up Ward who powered over, both Hoppers tries went unconverted and they went into the break trailing 10-13.
It took just ten minutes of the second half for Hoppers to take the lead as John Embelton ran back a poor clearance before Phil Baines’ intelligent kick through was collected by Allen for his second score.
The bonus point was secured mid-way through the half as a patient build up following a solid scrum so Hoppers move the ball across the pitch a number of times before space opened up out wide for Kendall. The winger scored his second with five minutes to play after another good scrum, this time 40m from the line, and Ward combined well with replacement Tom Hurst before Kendall powered his way over to put the seal on a promising performance.
Looking forward Dew is aware that Hoppers will need to keep up this run with a number of difficult matches coming up; “I am happy with the way the lads have started, we have a young team which can only grow in experience and confidence. We won’t be complacent against Stockport as we are targeting that game as a 5 pointer, there are no need for changes and we will be looking to keep the continuity going as we know the games in October are going to be very tough.
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