Ashfield 22 Grimsby 10
GRIMSBY Rugby Football Club first team remain rooted to the foot of the Midlands Three East (North) table after losing away to fellow strugglers Ashfield . They travelled to the Midlands ground with another much-changed 15 but expecting to break their season-long duck. The pitch had more mushrooms than the Mario Brothers and the narrow and bumpy turf played into the hands of the home side's dominant pack.
Grimsby started terribly, giving the ball away at the kick-off and conceding penalty after penalty to give the home side momentum. It was scoreless for about 20 minutes before Ashfield shipped the ball out to the right wing for the opening try. The Blues pack was second to everything in the early stages and Grimsby were slow to re-organise after breakdowns, leading to the second touch down in the left corner. Two converted tries down and the Blues started to fight back. Several back moves threatened, prizing open the defence, only for the killer pass to fail. A penalty from Darren Daly finally put the Blues on the board before half-time.
Wingers Allan Oliver and Luke Chaplin were lively when they got the ball and a return kick from Chaplin midway through the second half sparked hope of a fight-back. He slipped two tackles and outside centre Dan Evans ran a switch, breaking away from two players before off-loading to second row James Bowen for the score. The Blues were camped in the Ashfield half, 17-10 down. But when a side wins only 10 per cent of its set-piece - a problem area all season - the pressure does not turn into points. A hand-full of line-outs and a hat-full of scrums were lost and so too was the match when Ashfield hit back and scored again to make it 22-10.