Rugby League Conference North Midlands Division

[iAshby Decoy, 13th June 2009[/i

Shorpe Barbarians moved to the top of the RLC North Midlands Division, as they ran in the biggest victory in their 3 year history, as they completed a 16 try victory against Leeds Akkies at Ashby Decoy on Saturday.

The Barbarians previous biggest win, a 70-20 victory against Nottingham Outlaws a fortnight previously was eclipsed by the rout, as the combined tutelage of coaches Ian Daintith and Nigel Dyer had its desired effect.

Naming a side with a few changes from last weeks victory against Rotherham, due to player unavailability and injury, the Barbarians started strongly, with strong tackling not letting the visitors make any headway.

The hosts probed the visiting defence with every set of tackles, and it was with 6 minutes on the clock that Lewis Jones ran in the opening try, making the most of an overlap on the right wing to touch down to the right of the posts for a try which was converted by Karl Clayton.
The Barbarians didn't waste time in getting on the scoreboard again, with Gavin Kempthorne getting loose of the last man on the halfway line, and romping home for his first try of the season.

Leeds applied a little bit of pressure for the next 5 minutes of the game, nearly sneaking over on the right hand side, but excellent defence from the hosts prevented any points being scored.
A mistake from the visitors on the last tackle was to produce the next try, Leeds failed to find touch with a kick on the last tackle, and Karl Clayton was on hand to sneak through a tiny gap between the Leeds winger and the touchline to run 45 yards to score a try which he converted to make it 16-0 after as many minutes.
Supporters of the home side didn't have long to wait to cheer another score, as Shane O'Sullivan received the ball from the kick off, and after snaking his way through the defensive line, ran untouched to the tryline to score under the posts.

Another period of end to end rugby, with both sides making errors when it was easier to score was ended on 31 minutes, when Gareth Mist found himself in the right place at the right time to take a kick in his own half, and trotted away up the hill to score a try that defied belief for the big man.
The home side didn't have to wait long to score again, as, following breaks from O'Sullivan and Johnson, Karl Clayton was on hand to score his second try of the game, and his teams last try of the half, ducking under a tackle to score within touching distance of the posts for a try which he converted.

Half time 34-0

The pattern of play in the second half was almost identical to the second half, but the hosts scored with their first possession, Lewis Jones beating 4 men round the outside to run in for his second try of the game. For the second time in the game, the hosts next try was instantaneous, with Duncan Henderson finding the ball on halfway after the kick off had been run back strongly by John Williams, and the veteran hooker running in untouched to push the points total nearer to 50.

David Johnson was on hand after 50 minutes to finish an excellent team move on the last tackle, to take the total to 50. Ian Lee and Lewis Jones working hard to provide the ball for the winger to run the last 15 yards to the tryline, Karl Clayton missed the conversion from the right hand side.

Clayton was on hand 5 minutes later to complete his hat trick, beating 2 Akkies defenders to run in from 35 yards, despite having 3 Barbarians attackers outside him on the overlap. He converted his own try to take his personal total for the day to 28 points, equalling Tom Alldridges club record, set during the Shorpe Braves days. It was to be his last action of the day, as he left the pitch shortly afterwards.

On 60 minutes, club captain Lewis Jones completed his hat trick, picking up a loose ball in his own half, before beating the Leeds full back to score under the posts. Ian Lee converted the try to take the total past 60. Five minutes later, it was that man Jones on hand again to score his 4th try of the game, a carbon copy of his previous one, picking up a loose ball in his own half to run in untouched for another converted try.
The next try was to be the best try of the game, with props Gareth Mist and Phil Jepson linking up, with the latter showing a glimpse of his days in the backs to romp home untouched from the halfway line.

Prop Gaz Phillips, who had come on for previous try scorer Phil Jepson a matter of moments beforehand, was on hand to finish an excellent team move with 13 minutes left on the clock, breaking through several would be tacklers to touch down underneath the posts.

For the 3rd time in the game, the next try came straight from the kick off, Lewis Jones finding a gap in the line to exploit before he broke through and ran in from well inside his own half to break John Woolards 4 year old tries in a game record, making the new mark 5 tries.

With just over 5 minutes left, Gaz Phillips brought the scoring to an end, breaking 3 tackles as he went in to the try line following good work by Danny Cribbis in the centres.

Full time score 90-0

Tries - Lewis Jones 5, Karl Clayton 3, Gaz Phillips 2, Gavin Kempthorne, David Johnson, Phil Jepson, Shane O’Sullivan, Dunc Henderson, Gareth Mist
Conversions - Karl Clayton 8, Ian Lee 5

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Next week sees the Barbarians RLC side travel to the South Leeds Stadium in Leeds to face top of the table rivals Parkside Hawks, who handed them their only defeat of the season back in May.
The 'A' side are set to see Rotherham Giants 'A' visit Ashby Decoy, both sides are 2:30pm Kick offs.