13th September

Pontefract Pythons   25  -  Stanley Rodillians   31

Man of the match - the pack

Scorers - Wright G.Banfield Walker Cons D Armstrong x3 Pens D Armstrong x2

The Pythons had victory in their first league fixture of 2009/10 snatched from their grasp in the last minute but in truth owe their predicament to their poor start to the game. Notwithstanding this the team which has been extensively rebuilt over the summer and included a number of new young faces fared very well for their first competitive game of the season. Their job was made all the harder by a slow start which saw them go two tries behind to an organised and well drilled Stanley side. New captain Phil Liddle rallied his troops and they began to compose themselves with scrumhalf Mick Wassell and new stand off Mick Firth providing direction and go forward to the pack who began to dominate the scrums. With John Trevorrow and Ashley Bradshaw strong in the front row and Rich Bailey and Dave Brown strong in the loose the home side began to monopolise possession and Wassell went close following a flowing move. In sweltering heat the visiting pack began to wilt and centre Shane Simpson produced a splendid shimmying and stepping run to put Greg Banfield in for a try under the posts which was improved by fullback Dave Armstrong. Pythons were now on a roll and Kev Day was unlucky to be tackled just short after a typically rampaging run however from a subsequent scrum the pack bulldozed their opposites over the line and number eight Gavin Wright touched down with Armstrong again converting. The visitors restored their lead with a try totally against the run of play and it took some great defensive work from a Luke Banfield and Richard Armstrong to prevent them increasing their lead further. At the break Vice captain Andy Walker replaced Daz Hall would made an encourage debut start on the wing and his experience provided further impetous to the fightback intercepting twice from his own half once only to see his final pass unfortunately spilled and the second time romping home himself from 60 yards. The game swung forward and backward with both sides going close and Luke Banfield and Mick Wassell were unfortunate not to score for the Pythons. Old head Dave Chadwick returned to bolster the pack and Matt Jones also spiced things up with fresh legs. Stanley did manage to cross and restore their lead but ill discipline cost them dear and two well taken penalties from Armstrong put them in front with only minutes left. They looked to have the game under control but a hotly disputed penalty for obstruction turned the ball over on the last play and the visitors crashed over to break the Pythons hearts.

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Report by flatcapper