Match report: Garstang RUFC 12 Aspull 67

Garstang were well beaten by a dominant Aspull side at Hudson Park

It’s fair to say that Garstang didn’t play at their best but Aspull totally capitalised on this with a display that was quick, powerful and accurate.

With just a few minutes played Garstang were on the back foot immediately as they conceded two tries to face an early 10-0 deficit.

They struck back well though when they scored a try of their own on five minutes.

Their first attacking phase ended up with the ball in Kieran Davies’ hands.

He saw space in behind and dinked a kick through; Owen Bendall was alert to this and he outpaced the defence to touch down in the corner.

However, this score was only a temporary respite for the team as Aspull continued to threaten.

The powerful runners continued to punch holes through the middle before they released the backs who were clinical in their finishing when opportunities were presented to them.

This efficiency led to a further six first-half tries to send the visitors into the break with a 46-5 lead.

Garstang regrouped at half-time and they knew that, for all the quality of the Aspull team, they had underperformed in that first period.

With the game out of reach the objectives for the second period were to stop the bleeding and to have a crack at scoring four tries to secure a consolation bonus point.

Things didn’t start overly well as Aspull helped themselves to another try early on but Garstang did get a try on 50 minutes which gave them hope of getting something out of the game.

The ball was quickly worked out wide and Bendall, who was having an excellent game, raced over to score under the posts and Davies added the extras to make it 53-12.

Despite the overwhelming score, Garstang steadied the ship and Aspull were having to work much harder for success in the second period.

They scored a couple of outstanding tries to round of the scoring but the second half was much more competitive.

It was a chastening result for Garstang after a strong pre-season and early season promise, so they must now regroup and look to correct things at Congleton on Saturday.

Garstang: Miller, Roskell, Nicholls, Davies Taylor, Corless, Lee, Pye, Billington, Nickson, Davies, Bendall, Dugdale, Knowles, Bisby, Hewitt. Replacements: Barton, Makinson, Lambert.