Grimsby 18 Glossop 7
Grimsby put the previous week's cup disappointment behind them with a tidy win against old adversaries Glossop to leapfrog the Derbyshire side and move up to 4 th position. Both teams are noted for their forwards, but it was to be the home side that made the difference, especially in the set piece. Grimsby were once again outfitted in their Black strip as Glossop also play in royal blue.
Straight from the start Grimsby were keen to make inroads into the Glossop, however, as Grimsby powered forward, the first few phases of play were notable for the amount of penalties given for Glossop killing the ball. This allowed the mighty boot of Pharaoh to kick down the field for easy yardage. From the ensuing lineout a series of rucks saw Grimsby move ever closer to the line, and eventually the mighty figure of Edwards could be seen peeling away from the back to belly barge his way over for the score. Saunders lined up the conversion with his usual aplomb, and the bonus points went begging.
This seemed to inspire Glossop, who came right back at Grimsby , quickly working their way deep into the home-sides 22. The strong defensive midfield line of Thomas and Cairns held out, and as the rest of the team came smashing into the mauls, the ball was held and a scrum awarded to Grimsby . Following on to the last few matches, the front row combination of Wilkinson, Edwards and Thornton calmly took off from where they had left last week, and proceeded to drive the Glossop pack back at a nice steady controlled rate. This gave scrum half Knight all the time he needed to line up his pass, and another Pharaoh clearance kick was soon taking place.
Grimsby continued to press, with the forwards pushing hard, and the back row getting wide to support the back line. Progress was again being made up the pitch. Before yet another Glossop infringement at a ruck led to another penalty being awarded, this allowed Pharaoh to kick to touch just outside the visitor's 22 yard line. A neat planned move saw the ball won by Newman and a sneaky pass saw Slosmanis gather the ball in space. With nobody in front of him, the cheeky youngster had to swerve out of his way to find contact with a covering winger, before touching down for the try. Saunders struggled to recreate his previous attempt, and the ball sailed tidily between the uprights.
From this point on, the match official appeared to be doing his best to level the 2 sides, with the game being increasingly spoilt by the incessant drone of his whistle, neither side were able to make a great deal of headway, and frustration levels were starting to rise. Cheap shots were being thrown more and more, with both sides as guilty as the other. This seemed to rattle the ref more than anybody else, and he pulled the 2 skippers aside for a brisk talk on discipline. As the half drew to a close, 2 players were awarded yellow cards, Slosmanis of Grimsby for foul play, and a member of the Glossop pack for repeated infringement at the ruck. This failed to slow the Grimsby forwards down, with the team easily pushing as hard with just 7 as before. A nice move from the backs saw an incisive break before the last man was drawn and the ball fed towards Lowery for an easy run in, unfortunately the antipodean failed to hold on to the pass, and the air was turned a nice shade of blue with some fruity terms telling of his disappointment. As the half drew to a close, Grimsby were in front but needed more points to be certain.
The 2 nd half started much as the first, with Grimsby 's dominance in the forwards once more coming to the fore. Another series of good drives saw Pharaoh able to guide a nice drop goal through the posts. It was at this point where Grimsby had to make a change to the front row, with Thornton having to leave the pitch with a rib injury after yet another impressive performance. This allowed Price-Salleh to make an appearance, after his suspension earned against Leamington had elapsed. This disruption made no impact on the efficiency of the Grimsby scrum, with Glossop being driven back all the more. The Grimsby backline was also trying to impose itself on the game, but the normal fluency appeared to be missing, with wrong options taken and way too much ball spilt. Grimsby were still the more assertive side, but the Glossop defence was becoming better organised, and the referee was using his whistle more and more, often for what appeared to be extremely harsh calls. During the half Grimsby made 2 further changes, with Davis coming on for Slosmanis, and Daly on for Draper. Grimsby again worked into the Glossop half, and another infringement in the ruck gave Saunders to opportunity to kick for goal. A well taken shot easily added the 3 points and Grimsby were now cruising to victory. It may be that the home side mentally went down a few gears, but Glossop went on to finish the game on the ascendancy. A dog leg in the Grimsby defence allowed the Glossop fly half Horbachowski to sprint through the hole and then outpace the covering defenders to touch down in the right hand corner. An impressive conversion added the extras, and Glossop had gotten onto the score sheet.
This was to be the end of the game, and Grimsby were now back in the top 4, with a game in hand to push for top 3.
This week Grimsby travel to Lincoln for what will be a fiercely contested match, with both sides always keen to outdo the other and claim bragging rights for another season.