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Saints miss out on title
Tony McArdle14 Apr - 09:33
Huddersfield crowned champions after close encounter
Saints last game of the league saw them travel to first placed Huddersfield rugby club for the league decider. With a strong breeze blowing down the ground it was Saints kicking off uphill in front of an estimated crowd of 1500 towards the viaduct end of Lockwood Park.
Huddersfield where the first to put points on the board with a penalty in front of the sticks 3-0. Huddersfield using the wind had Saints pinned in their 22 for a long period unable to pierce the defence, the sustained pressure eventually paid off, and the resulting converted try gave Huddersfield a 10-0 lead.
Things got worse when another long kick was not cleared with any distance, allowing the Big Huddersfield pack to power over and score another converted try 17-0. However Saints never give in and started to gain some foothold into the game, with a maul from 10m out Joe Sanders was driven over the line for his 31st try of the season, making him the top try scorer in the league great stats for a hooker, converted by Baldwin to bring the score to 17-7.
Almost immediately after the restart however the Huddersfield winger tore through the defence not helped by the Saints backs missing tackles to score between the sticks easy conversion and maintain the gap 24-7. Again, Saints made good headway into the wind, their scrum under pressure from the dominant Huddersfield pack but they were finding good attacking ball off their own lineout where they had dominance Myles Holmes breaking through to score not converted by Baldwin to bring the score back to 24-12 at halftime.
Saints with the wind now behind them and down the slope towards the clubhouse started brightly second half going to the corner, where a catch and drive saw Oscar Crowe go over in the corner converted pulling the score back to 26 -19. Again, Huddersfield attacked finding space on the left where their winger scored in the corner, not converted to again put space between the teams 29-19.
With an attacking scrum 5m out Huddersfield the ball came out the back of a crumbling scrum where Kincart dived on it however the man in the middle blew for a penalty try leaving the Saints a mountain to climb with the score 36-19. Saints again went on the attack but where thwarted by the stout defence of Huddersfield, again it was Oscar Crowe to claim his second of the game after another catch and drive converted by Baldwin to bring the score back to 36-26 where the game ended.
Congratulations to Huddersfield only beaten once all season, by Saints 1st game of the season, good luck in National 2 North. Saints now go into a playoff v Stockport on Saturday 25th April.
Huddersfield where the first to put points on the board with a penalty in front of the sticks 3-0. Huddersfield using the wind had Saints pinned in their 22 for a long period unable to pierce the defence, the sustained pressure eventually paid off, and the resulting converted try gave Huddersfield a 10-0 lead.
Things got worse when another long kick was not cleared with any distance, allowing the Big Huddersfield pack to power over and score another converted try 17-0. However Saints never give in and started to gain some foothold into the game, with a maul from 10m out Joe Sanders was driven over the line for his 31st try of the season, making him the top try scorer in the league great stats for a hooker, converted by Baldwin to bring the score to 17-7.
Almost immediately after the restart however the Huddersfield winger tore through the defence not helped by the Saints backs missing tackles to score between the sticks easy conversion and maintain the gap 24-7. Again, Saints made good headway into the wind, their scrum under pressure from the dominant Huddersfield pack but they were finding good attacking ball off their own lineout where they had dominance Myles Holmes breaking through to score not converted by Baldwin to bring the score back to 24-12 at halftime.
Saints with the wind now behind them and down the slope towards the clubhouse started brightly second half going to the corner, where a catch and drive saw Oscar Crowe go over in the corner converted pulling the score back to 26 -19. Again, Huddersfield attacked finding space on the left where their winger scored in the corner, not converted to again put space between the teams 29-19.
With an attacking scrum 5m out Huddersfield the ball came out the back of a crumbling scrum where Kincart dived on it however the man in the middle blew for a penalty try leaving the Saints a mountain to climb with the score 36-19. Saints again went on the attack but where thwarted by the stout defence of Huddersfield, again it was Oscar Crowe to claim his second of the game after another catch and drive converted by Baldwin to bring the score back to 36-26 where the game ended.
Congratulations to Huddersfield only beaten once all season, by Saints 1st game of the season, good luck in National 2 North. Saints now go into a playoff v Stockport on Saturday 25th April.
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