Stanley always look forward to the big games, and along with Milford, Stanningley are as big as they get. The league this year is closer than ever with us, Stanningley, Milford, Drighlington and Celtic all impressing of late.
The game started with some fantastic Stanley defence and keeping the big Stanningley side in their own half. The first of our tries came from a wonderful set move resulting in Daniel Sowerby hitting blockbusting Kieran Holt off a wedge for him to skin the fullback and score from 40 yards out.
The game was a real arm wrestle, and we produced 3 great moves which on any other day could have resulted in tries but we broke down with poor final executions of the plays and on all occasions on the first or second play. The frustration was mounting and just before the break Stanningley started to take control of the mid field and we struggled for some go forward. The half-time break was a welcome break for us and at that stage we looked under pressure.
The game was hard but fair, and as always played in a good spirit, and we continued with this in the second half. The Stanningley side led forward by Captain and our choice of Man of the Match for the Opposition, Jordan Lilley, swept forward on the back of two successive penalties to camp on our line, and in a blink of an eye they scored in the bottom corner after it looked like the player was tackled, and our defenders just lost a moment of concentration.
The next period showed us going forward and again losing the ball in the crucial last pass on a sweeping play to the left. Stanningley again on the back of some penalties for our indiscipline moved down field and attacked to the right side for the first time all game, and with strong running second rower Nathan Stone crashed over to put them in the lead for the first time with only 8 minutes to go.
Stanley looked shell-shocked and needed to get up field and with 3 minutes to play we were forced down field to our own try line by a very good kick, and had to work overtime.
The game winning play came on the 4th tackle only 30 yards off our own line. Daniel Sowerby took the ball direct to the defensive line and executed a perfect inside ball after moving two defenders to create space and, with Kieran Holt timing his run to perfection, running the perfect line he was clear with not a single defender in sight. KH ran a full 65 yards skinned the fullback to score the winner. Daniel Sowerby was awarded by Roy and Phil a very well deserved Magic Moment for the perfect execution of a play that resulted in the victory.
Kieran Holt throughout the game was superb, running very hard, and showed his deceptive pace to score both our tries and was awarded the Opposition Man of the Match. KH always gives 110% and is enthusiasm is infectious to say the least - well done Kieran.
The Stanley Man of the Match chosen by Phil and Roy went to the wonderful fullback, Max Jowitt who is in top form and full of ability and drive. I fully agree that he was our overall performer - no mistakes and a superb performance in defence, coming up with the match-saving tackle on the Stanningley try line only with 4 minutes to go. Well in Max.
Will Hudson and Jack Donnegan along with Eddie Daly also performed very well on the day, showing some real determination and guile throughout.
The next game on the list is a trip to Dewsbury Celtic, and with only Drighlington left to play, we are looking forward to a well deserved break from the league.
