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September 10, 2005
Winlaton Vulcans 1XV 20 Vrs Houghton 10 (League)
Winlaton registered their first win against a gutsy young Hougthon side which lacked the bulk of the Winlaton pack.
The Vulcans kicking down and with the wind, were soon on the defensive and Houghton's Fly Half Johnson sailed through the Winlaton defense after a stolen Winlaton lineout to make it 0-7 after 7 minutes.
Winlaton came straight back with a penalty from Gary Alison to reduce the early score 3-7. The Vulcans then upped the pace and this resulted in tight play from the forward close the Houghton line and captain Scott Urwin crashed over for a try from 3 yards out on 17 minutes to give Winlaton and 8-7 lead.
Houghton whose back and in particular Fly-half look dangerous all day then forced for the Winlaton line but Winlaton were caught off-side give the fly-half Johnson a easy 3 points and houghton the lead 8-10 on 22 minutes.
This stung Winlaton into live and their pack shoved the Houghton pack off their own ball several times and this gave scrum-half and player-coach Graham Clarkson a run-in from the 22m to give Winlaton and 13-10 lead on 30 minutes.
Winlaton then got a crucial break-thru on the half-way line and good inter-passing from the 22m saw centre Tony Horsfall go over for a try on 35 minutes with Alinson converting to make 20-10.
Half-time Winlaton Vulcans 20 Houghton 10.
The second half was a see-saw battle with Winlaton defending their lead and Houghton almost constantly trying to reduce the arrears but strong tackling in the centres from Horsfall and Stillwell snuffed out any danger.
Winlaton although quite successful on the Houghton throw failed to win a line-out on their own ball and will have to rectify this for future games.
This was further compounded when second row Tony Whealans was sin binned for hand-bags at dawn on 70 minutes leaving Winlaton with next to no-body in the line-out..
However Winlaton held-out for a hard-fought win and their first two points in the league..
Full Time : Winlaton Vulcans 20 Houghton 10.
Posted by SiteMaster at September 10, 2005 04:29 PM
Posted to Match Reports