Shrewsbury 26 vs Whitchurch 22

On Saturday 21st March, Whitchurch 1s travelled to Shrewsbury for what was to become an exciting local derby with Whitchurch still holding top spot, but Shrewsbury were closing in hard in 3rd place.

Whitchurch kicked off to Shrewsbury. The ball was taken out by Whitchurch for a Shrewsbury line out, which Henry Appleby impeded to bring the ball back down to Whitchurch’s side. Shrewsbury managed to get the ball back, however after a good tackle, scrum half Maximilan Clarke kicked the ball up the pitch, it was picked up by Shrewsbury who came running back at Whitchurch only to be superbly tackled off the pitch by Jake Dodwell. 

Whitchurch line out was unfortunately knocked on, the subsequent play took the ball into the centre of the pitch, where Shrewsbury were awarded a penalty right in front of the post. Whitchurch were 3-0 down in the first 5 minutes.

Whitchurch Kicked Off again to Shrewsbury, Alfie Linington chased it down and took the ball in the air for Whitchurch, some good play took Whitchurch forward only to lose the ball right on the try line.

Shrewsbury won the scrum and kicked the ball up the field, to be caught by Benedict Mason. Quick ball movement took Whitchurch back into the Shrewsbury 22. The ball was spilled by Whitchurch however luckily Maximilian Clarke came running from behind to pick the ball up, weaving through 4 Shrewsbury players to score Whitchurch first points, Rob Leighton converted.  Putting Whitchurch in the lead.

From the KO Whitchurch moved the ball across the pitch to put pressure on the Shrewsbury defence. After a number of phases Shrewsbury were able to turn the ball over and move back down the pitch into the Whitchurch 22.  After some strong defensive play Whitchurch were able to take control again, pushing back against Shrewsbury, however a held ball gave Shrewsbury another penalty, again right in front of the posts for them to score another 3 points.

Shrewsbury were relying on their two centre to crash ball through Whitchurch defence. This gave Shrewsbury yet another penalty once again right in front of the posts. To add to Whitchurch problems No. 8 Tom Smith was yellow carded after the teams’ repeated infringements.

The game became scrappy but, while still a man down, Whitchurch pulled back the lead with a Rob Leighton Penalty.

Discipline continued to blight Whitchurch, with Shrewsbury choosing to take advantage of their dominance in the scrum, rather than go for the posts or line out, twice next to the Whitchurch try line.  They scored a try and converted right before the halftime whistle.

From the second half whistle Whitchurch scored early through quick hands to get to Jake Dodwell for a corner try.

Shrewsbury made a great break from KO, but Rob Leighton intercepted a pass, which he moved onto Tom Tilley who made a fantastic run down the line only to be stopped abruptly by a no-arms tackle by a Shrewsbury player who was instantly yellow carded. This was quickly followed by another yellow card to Whitchurch as Danny Nicolas was sent off for a questionable deliberate knock on.

It was proving to be an exciting match, with both teams trying to dominate.  Shrewsbury were the next to score and convert, taking the score to 23-15.

Just as both teams returned to full strength, with tensions rising, both Shrewsbury and Whitchurch lost another player each to the sinbin, for Whitchurch it was their captain, Ian Gillespie. Whitchurch were awarded the scrum, but Shrewsbury were awarded a penalty right on the back of it, they took the 3 points.

Whitchurch were the next to cross the try line, with a disallowed try, for Rob Leighton, who apparently rolled the ball forward as he touched it down, from under his arm.

Whitchurch didn’t let the decision stop their attack, after a series of penalty decisions in their favour, Benedict Mason pushed over the line to score, Rob Leighton converted.

In the dying seconds Whitchurch was awarded a scrum right on the Shrewsbury try line, Shrewsbury managed to push them off the ball and kick the ball out for the final whistle. A disappointing score but a very good match.

Final score 26-22, with Whitchurch coming away with a losing bonus point.  Man of the Match was No. 10 Rob Leighton.

Whitchurch 1s are at home next week against second to bottom team Tamworth, while the 2s travel to Newcastle Staffs.