OUTLAWS 32 ROCHDALE MAYFIELD ACADEMY 26 (5/4/2008)

Report by Richard Johnson

Photos by Gav Slater (gallery)

Nottingham Outlaws rugby league club had their first run-out of the new campaign on Saturday in a pre-season friendly against a young Rochdale-Mayfield outfit. In an entertaining match a new-look Outlaws team put in a some-what disjointed display yet still managed to emerge as worthy 32-26 victors.

New Outlaws coach Martin Crick was probably the most interested observer as he saw his charges take to the field for the first time under his command. However he must have had a few early reservations as the visiting Rochdale side immediately had the Outlaws on the back foot. The visitors tore into the Outlaws at pace and their smaller, quicker players made huge in-roads into a hesitant home defense that was struggling to cope with the speed of the visitors attack.

Above: Keiron Curtis put in an impressive all-round performance in the hooking role

As the visitors took control the points began to rack up as the Outlaws players fell off tackles at an alarming rate. In only the second set of the match the Rochdale take burst through a yawning gap in the home defence to open the scoring and it was soon 12-0 to Rochdale in as many minutes as the Outlaws defence was again found wanting.

With the Outlaws defence leaking points at the rate of one a minute it seemed that the cricket season had started early! Time and again the Outlaws handling let them down early in the tackle count, gifting the visitors possession and putting the home team on the defensive and it came as no suprise when Rochdale scored again to make it 16-0 on the half hour mark with the Outlaws yet to complete a set of tackles without an error.

Finally, with the half time break approaching the Outlaws began to gel and at last they got on the score card when young hooker Kieron Curtis scored a try as he spotted a gap in the defensive line and darted over from short range. Steve Mckinney added the extras and then with the whistle about to go winger Joe Birch powered over in the corner to put the Outlaws back in contention at 16-10 as the referee brought the first half to a close.

Above: Adam Millward proved a real handful for the Mayfield defence

The second half started brightly for the Outlaws as the new-look time began to find its feet and the half-back combination of McKinney and Lewis began to click into gear. With the new half only a few minutes old the Outlaws drew to within 2 points of the visitors when an overhead pass from McKinney created a gap for Adam Millward to power through for his first of the season. However the joy was short lived as a fumble straight from the kick off saw possession handed to Rochdale in the red zone and they quickly scored to stretch their lead to 20-14.

As the coaching team rang the changes the Outlaws began to gain the upper hand on the smaller Rochdale players. The powerful runs of Adam Millward were beggining to take their toll and the dynamic second-rower grabbed his second of the match when he burst through a tiring visiting defence and scorched half the legth of the pitch to bring the score back to 20-18 in the visitors favour. Then, with the very next play of the match debut winger Tunde Campbell showed why he is going to be a real find this season as the young paceman scorched down the field to set-up Outlaws Kees Foxon for a try that put the Outlaws ahead at 22-20. The score for Foxon was particularly sweet as it was his first match in 2 years after badly breaking his leg in 2006.

Above: Martin Edwards played a decisive role in the outcome of the match

As the Outlaws began to dominate possession and field position the next score looked critical and it was the Outlaws that got it when smooth-running winger Joe Birch bagged his second of the match after a fine pass from his centre put him in the corner and at 26-20 the match looked to be won for the Outlaws. However, yet another mistake from the kick off saw the Outlwas hand possession over to Rochdale close to their try line and the visitors didnt need a second invite as they scored a well-worked try under the sticks that was duly converted to level the scores at 26-26 with 4 minutes to go.

In the final throes of the game it seemed that both teams would have to settle for a draw, but the match turned on two critical plays that both involved Outlaws powerful second-rower Martin Edwards. First the super-fit forward somehow covered across the entire width of the pitch to haul down the Rochdale winger as a winning try seemed inevitable. Then, from a resulting scrum he burst through a flailing Rochdale defence to grab a dramatic winning try as he scorched virtually the full length of the pitch to wrap up the match at 32-26 in the Outlaws favour.

Watching coach Martin Crick was pleased with the first hit-out of the season. Although registering a victory was fairly meaningless in a pre-season friendly, he would no doubt be pleased to see the team show a lot character to claw their way into a match that seemed to be drifting away from them. He will also be hoping that his charges reduce their error count in future matches against opposition that will provide a much sterner than a young Rochdale team.