St Neots Saints vs Northampton Casuals

On a freezing cold Saturday the Saints travelled away to league leaders Northampton Casuals in a bid to improve their recent run of poor results. Coach Johnny Berwick wasn’t happy with the inconsistent pitch with parts still totally frozen from the night before but the Referee was happy that nobody would get hurt so the game went ahead.

With the conditions in their favour for the first half, Casuals kicked off and it was the last they’d see of the ball for the first fifteen minutes of the game. Lead by match day skipper Joe Woodgate, Saints built phase after phase in a bid to dominate possession and territory, making very few errors and running in disciplined pods to offer great support. Matt Davies, Johnny Berwick and debutante Guy Cooper all carried well to march Saints upfield time and time again. Something had to give, though, as Casuals found their way into possession, used the conditions well and kicked regularly to the worst corner of the pitch to pin the Saints down and starve them of the ball for the remainder of the half. It was clear to see how this Casuals side were top of the league, they built a lead in an impressive manner and found themselves with a commanding 25 point lead at half time (25-0).

After a heart-warming and rousing call to arms at half-time from pack leader Rhod Howcroft, Saints were reminded that they had nothing to lose from this point in and went back to playing the rugby that brought them so much success in the opening exchanges.

From the kick off, Saints did exactly that – building phases and creating great pressure on the defensive line. A tiring Casuals defence looked more vulnerable than at any point before and unbelievably Nick Ashford broke the line and found himself in the open field for the first time since 2009. A clever offload found Callum Austen, who drew the defender and passed wide to find Jordan Rook, who continued his fine run of scoring form by dotting down unopposed. Joe Woodgate defied the odds and knocked the conversion over – 25-7.

The comeback was on. But did the Saints have enough to keep closing the gap?

A similar game plan continued to let the Saints build more pressure and a combination of outstanding handling in shocking pitch conditions and smiles on faces saw Saints succeed to break the gain line again and again. Hard running and smart decisions to take the ball to ground instead of offloading found Saints in the Casuals 22, where Rory Dingemans sniped through the A channel left vacant by a tiring defence and jinked his way thorough, only to be smashed into the posts and the referee, against what anyone else on the field believed, gave the try. Again, having seemingly finally found his kicking boots, Joe Woodgate knocked the conversion over from right in front of the posts. 25-14.

Casuals had to attempt to keep hold of the ball for a period to try and establish their dominance once again. A single defensive error in the whole half allowed them to sneak up the blindside and score one in the corner against the run of play, with the conversion made. 32-14.

Saints made some changes in the pack and saw Ben Edwards and Stuart Whitelaw make their way to the field and both had an immediate impact. Ben broke the line in his second carry and quick ball was generated by great support at the break down. Aiden Jordan, enjoying a fine game at 13, collected the ball from Woodgate and smashed his way through a couple of defenders and take the ball in. Generating quick ball yet again, a smart step and a deceptively slow dummy saw Whitelaw find space and break tackles to eventually make his way over the line after another debutante, Ethan Griffiths, had run some intelligent dummy lines. Woodgate added the extras to make his tally 3/3 for the day. 32-21.

Another score was the number one objective from that point. With the referee announcing that the resulting kick-off was the last play of the game, Casuals kicked high to the Woo, who collected AND offloaded to Rhod Howcroft who made solid yards in midfield. Saints kept the ball and built pressure again, even in the face of the final whistle. After two or three phase building minutes Saints found themselves just outside the Casuals 22 yet again, only for the tough ground conditions caused the ball to come loose at the breakdown and Casuals sheer relief at being able to hurriedly kick the ball out was clear to see. Saints had definitely walked away with the lion’s share of the second half and heads were held high. A much brighter performance than previous weeks and exactly what was required before the next few fixtures against teams closer to their league position.

Man of the Match, Nick Ashford, had this to say:

“I was great today. I channelled the inner Bronson in me and made some great carries and worked harder than anyone else in defence. I’d love to say I’m proud of the boys but they’d have been nothing without me on that park today. I was glorious, imperious and Lomu-esque. Bow before my brilliance, Saints.”

Coach JB added:

“We started brightly and adapted well to the conditions today and I thought we had some great periods of play. We’ve not built phases like that for a long time and it’s clear that when we do, we succeed. Well done to Guy Cooper and Ethan Griffiths on making their debuts today, they are certainly welcome additions this late in the season and we’re sure they will be regular names on the team sheet after their performances today”