Hope Valley RUFC

Date: 30 January 2010
Venue: Home
Result: Win
Final Score: Hope Valley 81 – Burnage 0

Tries:
Dean Ancell – 1
Steve Hudson – 2
Gary Allen – 1
Dave Ryder – 2
Adam R – 1
John Eyre – 1
Tom Hodgson – 2
Steve Boundy – 1
Rory Williams – 1
Tommy McGuigan – 1

Conversions:
Dave Warren – 4
Tommy McGuigan – 4

Match Report

The game was moved to Hope Valley College due to a frozen pitch at Hollowford, and Valley started brightly. A good initial attack from Woodhouse, deputising at scrum half for the injured Spencer, threatened the Burnage defence. Another good run from Johnson kept Valley camped in the visitors 22. From a Valley scrum Will Wain drove towards the line, and from the resulting rolling maul Ancell crossed for the first score which was unconverted 5-0. Burnage pressured from the restart, but Woodhouse kicked clear, with the chasing Valley backs winning the ball, and a good run from McGuigan set up Hudson to score, with Warren kicking the conversion 12-0. Valley soaked up Burnage attacks and continued to run at the visitors with attacks from Wain, Ryder and Ancell being stopped by handling errors.Burnage won a penalty but kicked wide, and Valley attacked again with a superb handling move, the ball being passed from McGuigan to Ryder on the wing, and back inside to Martin Spencer, Wain and finally to prop Allen who scored, converted by Warren, to make it 19-0.

Valley were surging at Burnage at every opportunity, with McGuigan and Hudson in the thick of it, and the pressure told with a try to Ryder out wide making it 24-0. Another good move by the backs set up Adam for a try under the posts, and another conversion to Warren 31-0. Further pressure on the Burnage 22 saw the ball pass to Ryder who handed off the attempted tackle to score his second try out wide making it 36-0. Valley continued to play some great attacking rugby but failed to increase the lead more before the half time whistle.

Valley made some changes after the break, with Charmasson, Woodall, Williams and Gladstone taking the field. This didn’t interrupt the flow of the game, and hooker Eyre capitalised to score, with Warren converting to make it 43-0. Valleys pressure was relentless and Boundy hacked the ball through from some way out to gather and score, with McGuigan  this time converting to make the half century 50-0. Valley backs again made inroads into Burnage territory, with Warren and Hudson dominant.  Valley won a scrum in the Burnage 22 and skipper Hodgson at number eight powered over from the back, unconverted,with the score now 55-0.

Continued domination, both in the scrum and the loose, and Williams, on at scrum half, poached the ball from the back of a Burnage scrum on the 22 and managed to evade the defence and score a great solo try which was unconverted 60-0. Valley now brought on Winder and Hutchinson, and Valley continued attacking in waves. Woodhouse ran at the Burnage line and managed to do a forward roll in the process, obviously a move from the training ground. After an excellent performance McGuigan broke through to get his name on the try sheet under the posts and kicking his own conversion. 67-0. Wing Johnson, now playing for the visitors , showed great tenacity in tackling the 6’6 second row Winder, proving the point that if you tackle low you can bring anyone down. Another strong run from Hodgson brought his second try, converted by McGuigan 74-0. Hudson, who had run at Burnage all afternoon, also broke through to score under the posts for his second, converted by McGuigan to finish an exciting game 81-0.

Burnage deserve great credit for competing throughout in an excellent match. Valley remain unbeaten at the top of Division 5 East.

Updated to show scores as of the 6th Feb 2010:

Gary Allen – 3 tries
Dean Ancell – 18 tries
Kasey Blackwell – 1 try
Steve Boundy – 4 tries
Luc Charmasson – 2 tries
Jonny Elliott – 1 try
John Eyre – 3 tries
Joris Gladstone – 1 try
Tom Hodgson – 23 tries
Steve Hudson – 29 tries
Lee Hutchinson – 3 tries
Matt Johnson – 2 tries
Richard Mosley – 2 tries
Paul Nicholls – 6 tries
Dave Ryder – 9 tries
Martin Spencer – 5 tries
Rick Spencer – 6 tries, 97 conversions, 2 penalty
Will Wain – 2 tries
Dave Warren – 11 tries , 3 conversions
Rory Williams – 5 tries
Mike Woodhouse – 2 tries
Tommy McGuigan – 3 tries

Date: 23 January 2010
Venue: Home
Result: Win
Final Score: Hope Valley 43 – Spartans 0

Tries:
Dave Ryder x 1
Steve Boundy x 1
Ric Spencer x 1
Tom Hodgson x 1
Dave Warren x 1
Dean Ancell x 1
Tommy McGuigan x 1

Conversions:
Ric Spencer x 4

Match Report:
Following a lengthy break due to the bad weather, Valley started the game with a full complement of replacements eager to play their first game of 2010. They attacked downhill in the first half, but initially Spartans soaked up the pressure and kicked clear. The flow of the game was hampered by early errors after such a long break, but the stalemate was eventually broken following a kick through by Boundy. Hudson went at Spartans with a jinking run, passing to Ryder who score out wide to make it 5-0, with the conversion going just wide. Valley continued to pressurise downhill, but the Spartans defence held up and stopped our runners getting through. Hodgson was sent to the sin bin, and Spartans attacked uphill with their one man advantage, the move breaking down when they passed forward.

They continued to pressurise close to the Valley line, but the ball fell loose and was passed to Boundy, who ran like an express train almost the full length of the pitch to score out wide 10-0, again unconverted. Valley applied further pressure from the kick off, this time from Johnson. Valley won a scrum five yards out, with Ric Spencer at scrum half darting down the blind side to score to make it 15-0, again narrowly missing the conversion.  More downhill pressure was weathered by the well organised Spartan defence, keeping it to 15-0 at half time in an extremely competitive game.

From the Valley kick off the ball was fumbled by Spartans, and Hodgson, back on the field of play, powered over between the posts, with Spencer converting to make it 22-0. The game remained frenetic, with Valley attacks being repulsed time and time again. A Spartans lineout ten yards out was stolen by Valley and kicked clear only to the visitors back line. However this attack was broken up following an interception by Cornes, who then fed the ball to vice captain Warren who scored under the posts to make it 29-0 with the conversion. With the game now won Valley piled on the uphill pressure through Williams, McGuigan and Hudson.

A strong run from Ancell brought him a try, which was again converted by Spencer to make it 36-0, the relentless Valley pressure now bearing fruits. A Spartans counterattack was halted by a crunching tackle from Shires, on as a replacement for his Valley debut. Another Valley replacement was ex captain Nigel Winder, coming on at second row for his first game in many years. The Valley team attacked again through Cornes, and the ball was passed to McGuigan who scored close to the posts, with Spencer converting with the last kick of the game to make it 43-0 against a good side near the top of the league. Another clean sheet sees Valley remain unbeaten and top of the Miller 5 East table.

Man of the Match:
Nigel Winder
Mike Shires

Date: 16th January 2010
Venue: Away
Result: Postponed due to an unplayable pitch

Date: 9th January 2010
Venue: Home
Result: Postponed while the Valley pretends to be Siberia

Date: 2nd January 2010
Venue: Home
Result: Postponed due to the weather

The fixture will be played on the 6th of February 2010

Date: 19th December 2009
Venue: Away
Result: Postponed due to an unplayable pitch

Date: 12th December 2009
Venue: Home
Result: Win
Final Score: Hope Valley 66 – Ashton 0

Tries:
Dave Warren x 2
Rory Williams x 2
Martin Spencer x 1
Ric Spencer x 1
Steve Hudson x 1
Dave Ryder x 1
Tom Hodgson x 1
Tommy McGuigan x 1

Conversions:
Ric Spencer x 8

Match Report:
Hope Valley, still unbeaten at the top of the 5 East table , played Ashton for the second time this season. They started downhill for the first half, and immediately put pressure on the visitors.. This was rewarded by an early try to Warren, chipping over and gathering the ball to score. 5-0. In reasonable conditions the Valley back line harassed Ashton, with good runs from Hudson and Warren.

Further pressure saw Martin Spencer power through to score under the posts, with Ric Spencer getting the conversion 12-0. The Valley backs continued to use the slope to their advantage, running at Ashton and chasing kicks deep into Ashton’s territory. This culminated with a Valley scrum close to the Ashton line, with the ball being passed down the line for R Spencer to score out wide, converting his own try to make it 19-0. A clever kick from Cornes put more pressure on the visitors, and Hodgson drove through to score a converted try under the posts to make it 26-0. The game was being played at a frenetic pace, with Valley surging on , with both Wain and Johnson prevalent. A quickly taken tap penalty was passed through the three quarters and out to Ryder who scored near the touchline to make it 31-0 at half time.

Ashton pressurised from the restart, now playing with the slope, but danger was averted by a good clearance from McGuigan, who had come on as a replacement. This allowed Valley to get into their opponents 22, following a good run by Charmasson. Yet more good handling from the Valley backs allowed another replacement Williams to score on the wing, converted by Spencer to make it 38-0. Further strong drives came from Woodall, Hodgson and Charmasson but they just failed to breach the try line.

A scrum in their 22 saw the ball again passed down the line for Hudson to score, again converted by Spencer to make it 45-0. A good run down the right hand side by McGuigan eluded the Ashton players, and let in Warren for his second try, making it 52-0 after the conversion. The Valley pack now took control, with Williams getting his second try off the bak off a lineout, again converted 59-0. From the restart more excellent passing saw a try to McGuigan to finish the game off, making it 66-0 at the finish.

Valley are now still at the top of the league, scoring 707 points and conceding only 47, now 13 games unbeaten.

A couple of weeks ago, Matt did an interview on High Peak radio with Norman Taylor to talk about the club and our 30th anniversary season.

Hear the full interview here: High Peak Interview Nov09 (mp3)

The match review from the Dukinfield game was also published on their site here.

Date: 28th November 2009
Venue: Away
Result: Win
Final Score: Hope Valley 96 – Dukinfield 5

Tries
Mike Woodhouse x 2
Dean Ancell x 4
Luc Charmasson x 2
Steve Hudson x 2
Lee Hutchinson x 2
Martin Spencer x 1
Tom Hodgson x 2
Dave Warren x 1

Conversions
Ric Spencer x 8

Match Report
On a muddy and waterlogged pitch Valley put pressure on from the start, winning a scrum on Dukinfields 22. The ball was won, and passed swiftly down the valley back line for Woodhouse on the wing to score 0-5. Valley continued to dominate in difficult conditions , and Ancell broke through the Dukinfield ranks to score 0-10. The ball was kicked through by Warren with plenty of Valley players pressurising and enabling Charmasson to score , with Spencer getting his first conversion of the day 0-17.

Dukinfield responded and their back line attacked the Valley 22, only for Hudson to grab a cheeky interception, racing away to score under the posts, converted by Spencer for 0-24 after only twelve minutes. Dukinfield responded well though, and from a lineout close to the Valley line they scored to make it 5-24. This acted as a wake up call for Valley and showed them that the game was far from won. Another scrum was won by the Valley pack on the Dukinfield 22, and Hutchinson somehow managed to dodge the Dukinfield players and score under the posts. 5-29.

The valley backs produced a great piece of running rugby, with the ball being passed down the line and back inside. The valley attack was relentless, and Ancell skipped past three defenders to score again, converted by Spencer 5-36. A blindside attack from valley brought another try to Woodhouse, filling in on the wing, and showing a surprising turn of speed, converted by Spencer 5-43. Next Hudson again showed his pace scoring a breakaway try from the valley 22, converted by Spencer to make it 5-50 at halftime.

The second half produced a try for replacement Martin Spencer, following up a break by Hodgson from the halfway line. 5-55. Hodgson was again in the thick of the action, breaking off the back of a scrum ten yards out to score, 5-60. Valley drove again into the Dukinfield half, and a kick through by Spencer was gathered by Warren to get his name on the score sheet, 5-65. Valley continued to pressurise, winning their lineouts and driving on, and more powerful  running from Ancell giving him his hat trick 5-72.

To Dukinfields credit they continued to compete, and their experienced pack caused valley some problems in the loose. A break in play saw Dave Ryder take to the field with the water bottles to bring some levity to the afternoon. It’s great that he is released into the community on Saturdays to play rugby…

Play resumed and the surging runs continued, with Ancell breaking to set up Hodgson for his second try 5-77. The valley backs then got back in the action with a good run from Woodhouse, and Charmasson in support got his second try, converted by Spencer to make it 5-84. Again the ball was passed through the back line for the ever present Ancell to score, again converted by Spencer to make it 5-91. The game was finished off with a try to Hutchinson which would have looked better on a football pitch, hacking the ball through and controlling it before he could pounce over the try line, final score 5-96.

The game was played in  a great spirit and the score does not do Dukinfield justice, as they competed throughout. As one of their players commented “We did really well until they got the ball” .