Home vs Christchurch

Round 5

23rd July 2011 - 2.45

Venue : Rawhiti

Result : 13 - 18

Match Report

Total clutch game, one BP would be enough, were NBC going to a semi-final?

CHRISTCHURCH v NEW BRIGHTON 

At Rawhiti Domain: Christchurch 18 (Kieran Coll 2 tries; Matt Thatcher conv, 2 pen) beat New Brighton 13 (Dayne Wipou try; David Cattermole conv, 2 pen). HT: 8-6. Referee: Johnny Rice. 

New Brighton came within a whisker of crashing out of semi-final contention in an ugly game against DCL Shield holder Christchurch. Early penalties were traded by David Cattermole and Matt Thatcher, but in the set pieces, especially in the scrums, Christchurch was totally dominant, shoving the seasiders around at every put-in while its hard driving at the rucks and mauls upset Brighton’s rhythm.

Big Christchurch fullback, Thatcher, kept his team going forward with some huge touch-finders. In the 12^th minute Christchurch No. 8 Kieran Coll finished off a sustained period on attack by crashing over in the corner in a tackle.

Ten minutes later after a collapsed scrum and the ensuing ruck had been cleared, both Brighton locks, Aaron Williams and Daniel Karena, were left prostrate and unconscious after clashing heads with each other. Play stopped immediately as concerned staff rushed on the field and the match was delayed for 30min while two ambulances arrived, Williams being helped to the sideline and Karena taken to hospital.

The enforced break fired Brighton up briefly and it had a period on attack, but the only reward was another Cattermole penalty. Christchurch hit back on attack through a Kieran Kite intercept, but he was cut down from behind by wing Misi Selave. Brighton withstood 10min of intense pressure until half-time.

Aware at half-time that Burnside had taken maximum points from Sydenham, Brighton knew it must get at least one bonus point, but its defence was found wanting 2min after the restart when Coll, in a similar move to his first try, was driven over wide out. Thatcher converted and kicked a penalty which looked to have condemned Brighton to an early exit from the semi-finals race.

However, as many other visiting teams to Rawhiti Domain have found in the past, the home team never gives up lightly. The seasiders found new heart and worked into Christhchurch territory with the visitor conceding three consecutive penalties for silly misdemeanours.

Given a rare chance to attack with the ball, Brighton did with relish and while the forwards were unable to force their way over, right wing Dayne `Chunky’ Wipou outflanked the flailing arms of the last defender to score and Cattermole’s conversion closed the gap to five points with 17min to play.

Encouraged by loud support from their sideline faithful, Brighton lifted and finished the stronger, keeping Christchurch scoreless and gaining the valuable bonus point it needed to make the semi-finals.

For Christchurch, Coll, openside flanker Gary Redmond and prop Matt Groom were prominent, while young first five-eighths James Owens was elusive. Centre Scott Alfeld was a hard runner and Thatcher’s kicking was crucial.

Brighton’s loose forwards, Aaron McCoy, Ryan Hooper and Kieran Black were kept very busy, the revamped pack settled with the introduction of veteran prop Nick McMullan after the injury break and again the Meafou brothers, Fia and Jerry, proved hard to control in the midfield,.

MVP: Kieran Coll (Chch) 3, Matt Thatcher (Chch) 2, Ryan Hooper (New Brighton) 1.

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