Telford Raiders 18 - Wolverhampton RLFC 0
Telford’s senior rugby league team took the opportunity to mix in a number of new players with the current Raiders first team as they hosted a strong looking Wolverhampton. This was followed by the Raiders hosting their Junior Festival for teams across the Midlands on Sunday.
In the hot weather, the game was split into four quarters to ensure the players’ safety. While necessary, the move often interrupts the flow of the game and this was evident on Saturday.
The first quarter saw both teams playing defensively. Young scum-half Jack McCarthy produced several momentum-halting tackles. Defences remained miserly and, on the occasion the Raiders did threaten, their attack didn’t ask enough questions of the Wolves defence.
In the second quarter disciplinary slips often provided good field position and the big Wolverhampton team struggled in the heat. A strong defensive set which restricted the Wolves teams’ field position lead to Telford’s first try – the Raiders shifted the ball through several pairs of hands, found an overlap out wide and debutant Jimmy Gore added the extras to give Telford a 6-0 lead.
Gore’s combination with Liam Evans and Craig West paid dividends in the third quarter, when Gore skipped through the broken defensive line with ease before touching down and adding the extras to extend the Raiders’ lead to 12-0.
This was extended just before the hour when Telford’s Pom Tutt, playing at loose-forward, picked the ball up inside his own half. The Wolverhampton defence held back and Tutt powered through two flailing defenders and ran the 50 yards to touch down under the posts giving the Raiders an 18-0 lead.
The final quarter was very scrappy as a result of a number of changes and fatigue setting in. To their credit, the Raiders’ defence stood firm despite several near misses including a disallowed try for a double movement and a last ditch tackle in the corner bundling the despairing outstretched Wolverhampton player into touch.
Telford’s under-11 and under-12 sides carried the club’s feel good factor with them into their fixtures on Sunday and both sides produced some very impressive displays.
The under-12s continued their strong start to the season by remaining undefeated against the visiting Coventry, Birmingham, Northampton and Nottingham, while their under-11 counterparts only stumbled against Northampton
This is impressive when you consider that there were a number of newcomers to the game in the under-11 squad, who demonstrated some fantastic potential.
Telford Raiders’ chairman Fred Baker reflected on the weekend: “I was pleased with Saturday’s performance. Whenever you keep an opponent scoreless you have to be happy.”