RUGBY: Chipping Sodbury go so close to upset over league leaders

Old Richians 14 Chipping Sodbury 13

IT was a tough ask for Chipping Sodbury to turn over the Gloucester Premier League leaders away from home but they made Old Richians fight all the way for their slim, one-point victory on Saturday.

Old Richians have only lost one game out of 14 in the league this season so a losing bonus point by such a close margin was something of a consolation victory for Sodbury.

Indeed, Sodbury seem to have exorcised their travelling demons.

Their intensity and desire to win put Old Richians on the back foot from the whistle, and stopped their play-makers creating much at all for long periods.

The Sodbury machine produced two turnovers in the first five minutes, which produced useful possession, along with some real belief that they could prevail.

Richians’ progress was further hampered by an avalanche of ruinous tackling from Sodbury’s back row of Tom Farthing, Luke Carnaby and Matt Cook.

The defensive line stepped forward as one, which left very little wiggle room for the league leaders.

Enjoying the lion’s share of possession and territory gave ample opportunity for Sodbury’s play-maker Dan Bradley to shine.

His strength and balanced running caused problems for Richians all afternoon.

Using the pace and power of Joe Horton to get over the gain line, Sodbury swarmed over the ball and created another two quick rucks.

Bradley found himself on the front foot again with plenty of options, one of which came in the shape of James Bennett.

Bradley unleashed a pass of real vision, an over-the-head flat pass that was collected by Bennett.

He hit the line at full tilt and the try was a formality with Bradley slotting the conversion from the touchline. Within five minutes, after great work from Matt Cook and Jon Cook, Sodbury had forced a penalty on the 22.

Once again, the nerveless Bradley converted. The visits to Sodbury territory by Richians were in low single figures but, late in the half, they made those visits count with an unconverted try.

After an energetic first half, Sodbury steeled themselves to repel their hosts, who had shown glimpses of what they were capable of at the end of the first period.

Richians were kept from scoring for half an hour and then that was only a penalty.

Gone was their free-flowing passing game and that left their talented back three as mere spectators.

Sodbury stuck to the task across the pitch, with fearsome ruck clear outs from Cook, Ben Sharp and Niall Kincaid.

The most enthusiastic man at the rucks was Bradley, who shared the work with the pack, gaining their respect along the way.

Sodbury bolstered their ranks further when they introduced Martin Moorhouse. His work over the ball at the breakdown bought vital time for Sodbury’s defence to realign.

Sodbury’s ambition was never stifled and their own back three of Bennett, Luke Butters and Raffi Sheikh ran the ball back tirelessly.

Within five minutes of Richians taking the lead for the first time, Sodbury, through the educated boot of Bradley, snatched it back with a thirty metre penalty of their own.

As time ebbed away, Sodbury conceded a scrum outside their 22.

Richians’ kicker shattered Sodbury hearts, after Sodbury were penalised, when he kicked a crucial three points.

Despite some skill at the restart, where man of the match Bradley actually claimed the ball from his own kick, and some thunderous forward work, Sodbury couldn’t overturn the one-point advantage.