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Oakham RUFC 10 Glossop RUFC 14

9/ 1/2008

GLOSSOP returned from Rutland with a victory having not played a league game for over a month due to a combination of the weather and the Christmas break.

Having spoken beforehand about keeping the game tight for the first 10 minutes against an Oakham side low on confidence, Glossop found their hosts prepared to play and exploit gaps in the defence.

The home side opened the scoring when a quick tap penalty saw them dive over for a converted try.

It was clear that the way back into the game for Glossop would be for them to exploit their extra size in the forwards as a series of well taken lineouts gave their pack a platform.

With Oakham unable to do anything apart from give away penalties, Glossop opted to kick for the corners and drive from the lineouts, pressure which eventually told when Richard Trinnick went over for a try converted by Horbatchewskyj to make it 7-7.

Despite having more of the ball, Glossop were unable to add to their total before the break as their final passes went astray, while good tackles from Cassell and Horbatchewskyj stopped Oakham from scoring.

Glossop came out with renewed vigour after the break, forcing a mistake and a scrum from which Horbatchewskyj and Sales combined to send Clark over for a converted try.

Rather than go from strength to strength, Glossop put themselves under pressure by making a string of mistakes, while missed tackles and a couple of dubious penalties let Oakham pull back three points.

Cassell spurned a possible try while Oakham could have won the game, but Harrison’s covering tackle denied them a victory they may have deserved.