Fleet' tame the Tigers!

The Tigers of Sedgley Park were the lowly visitors who were looking to pick up points to avoid the drop.

The early exchanges saw Park pick up 3 points from a penalty before Fleet crafted a try of their own, good forward pressure allowed the ball to reach winger Haigh who crashed through 2 defenders to bag a try, 5-3 to Fleet. By now the forwards were rampaging up the field, returning No. 8 Maddern, skipper Barnes and Jones all showing a turn of foot with ball in hand. However, it was burly Jackson who made his mark next, bustling over and adding the extras to boot making it 12-3 to Fleet. Hooker Larkin was prominent in the tackle demonstrating to the crowd his polished technique. A couple of minutes before half-time stand in fly half Edwards saw a gap and broke tackles to score, 17-3 just on the half-time whistle.

Despite Manager Jefferson urging his troops to finish the job off as they had Park on the ropes, the game turned against the home side. The tackling faded and for lengthy periods Fleet were on the back foot camped in their own half. Eventually the defensive line was breached with the tigers taking a well deserved try, 17- 8. Against the run of play the giant frame of Buzza appeared with the ball and headed for the line to crash over with Jackson adding the conversion to make it 24-8. By now the game should have been out of reach for the visitors, however they had other ideas hitting back with 2 tries and a conversion, which meant a tense few minutes.

Whilst not the best team performance for the viewing spectators a number of players had good individual performances- Maddern was impressive in the loose, as were Jones and Jackson, however for his all round tackling, ball carrying and having a beard any deep sea trawlerman would be proud of, Barnes was nominated as man of the match. Next week Fleet visit top of the table Fylde.

Report by Dan Jefferson.