SAINTS came away from a wet and windy Odsal with both points after an 58-12 display in difficult conditions, writes Graham Henthorne.
It’s hard to be dissatisfied after a ten try mauling but some poor handling and a 20 minute dry spell midway through the first half during which the Bulls scored and gained momentum, left the coaching staff wondering what might have been.
The Saints pack were dominant throughout with André Savelio at his imperious best swatting off the opposition with ease.
Matty Fozard opened the scoring darting over from dummy half after Lewis Charnock’s great kick had been knocked on by the Bulls on their own 10 metre line.
Another great Charnock kick was superbly chased by Jake Spedding and Lewis Galbraith who picked up the winger and deposited him behind his own line for a repeat set.
Charnock showed the other side to his game as a big hit, one of many during the game, forced the error. He then picked up the loose ball before being stopped short. From the play the ball Fozard put Savelio over from close range.
Saints third came from a delightful short ball from substitute Joe Ryan sending Danny Abram over.
The Bulls scored from a lucky ricochet off the posts which fell straight at the feet of the prop who gleefully pounced for the score.
Saints scored on the stroke off half time and in doing so regained some of the momentum. A
Charnock broke through the line 40 out and fed the rampaging Savelio as he approached the full back.
A first half possession rate of less than 40% was the main topic of conversation at the break and the Saints came out in determined mood to turn the stat around.
Within three minutes they had put the game to bed with two fabulous tries.
The first came from a majestic Charnock 40/20 kicked around his body to the left corner. Three play the balls later and Savelio took four over with him in scoring his hat-trick.
The next came after a trademark bust tackle by Ross McCauley. The big prop found Charnock who got up from the play the ball to score from a return pass from Olly Davies.
From then on it was very much a question of the Saints looking after possession in the wet conditions and racking up the points.
Quick hands put Charnock free again and a neat step took him under the posts for the Saint seventh and Danny Richardson showed a clean pair of heels in picking up a loose ball and scooting in from 60 out for the eighth.
Jake Spedding was unlucky in spilling a difficult grubber straight into Bulls hands to gift them home team with a second but made up for it sprinting 80 metres down the short side from a Fozard pass. He could have had a second had he managed to take a pass from the rampaging MacCauley on the final whistle but the ball went to ground.
Sandwiched in between Phil Atherton opened his account at this level charging over from close range.
This was a good win against a side which had been showing some form of late. The pack were unstoppable making it easy for the backs to shine but the lynchpin of it all was Charnock who gave a virtuoso performance of loose forward play.
Match Summary:
Bulls U19s:
Tries: Adam Brook, Stephen Copeland.
Goals: Adam Brook 2.
Saints U19s:
Tries: Dan Abram, Jake Spedding, Danny Richardson, Phil Atherton, Matty Fozard, André Savelio 3, Lewis Charnock 2.
Goals: Lewis Charnock 7, Dave Hewitt 2.
Half Time: 24-6
Full Time: 58-12
Teams:
Bulls:
1. Jake Hrintchck; 2. James Pickering, 3. Ethan Ryan, 4. Nick Gomersall, 5. Kieran Walpole, 6. Macauley Barron, 7. Adam Brook; 8. Tobias Richardson, 9. Nathan Conroy, 10. Stephen Copeland, 11. Brad Adams, 12. Emmerson Whittle, 13. Michael Paul.
Subs: 14. Liam Kirk, 15. Joe Lumb, 16. Jack Georgiou, 17. Keeman Tomlinson.
Saints:
1. Dan Abram; 5. Ricky Bailey, 4. Matty Fleming, 3. Jake Spedding, 5. Lewis Galbraith; 6. Danny Richardson, 7. Dave Hewitt; 8. Phil Atherton, 9. Matty Fozard, 10. André Savelio, 11. Liam Cooper, 12. Olly Davies, 13. Lewis Charnock.
Subs: 14. Morgan Knowles, 16. Connor Casey, 17. Ross McCauley, 20. Joe Ryan.
