Strength and Honour

After the poor performance in Kidsgrove early on in the season this young Congleton side were keen to show their true metal – not least due to the large crowd pitchside. Before the game, the players were clear on what they had to do – work their backsides off for their teammates, get the ball wide and knock the big Linley players backwards at every opportunity near the contact areas.

This was a game plan well executed. After a tough first 30 minutes when Linley threw a full kitchen sink at the home team, Congleton responded with the type of intensity that had given them their previous two victories. In that first period Congleton’s discipline was poor, allowing territorial advantage to Linley and presenting then with several golden opportunities to thrust at the home side’s line – but they breached it only once. Once Congleton backed their defensive structure they cut out the needless penalties at the breakdowns and patiently waited for the Linley errors and opportunities to turn the ball over.

As soon as Congleton’s backs were given space they exploited it superbly with clinical passing to their wide men. Their hard work on this aspect of their back play in training has paid dividends and, with 10 minutes to go in the first half, they swept right after some excellent work by the forwards for Williams to latch onto his own kick forward to score in the corner.

The second half was very even in terms of possession, but it was Congleton’s passion, particularly in defence around the fringes, that gave them the belief they could beat the larger Linley team.
The forwards had their work cut out from the off, but with Wood in the back row having a storming game on his 25th birthday alongside Bainbridge and Beck; they were able to stop Linley at source on most occasions. With all the players working hard, this was a true squad performance and the half time replacements allowed Congleton to maintain this defensive intensity.

Kanaurous and King combined very well in the centre and, with Ridgeway pulling the strings unselfishly, the line functioned well, despite being on the back foot from srummages. They were however able to strike off lineout ball as Carter was dominant in the air. The front five as well as the back row were outstanding in defence – particularly in the last 15 minutes after Kanaurous had put the home side two scores ahead with a successful kick into the wind.

One of the many Congleton supporters said after the game “I am impressed, not just by the win, but by the way Congleton played by executing a game plan. They looked like a team who will dig deep for each other. I believe that is 3 from 3 which is a great way to finish the year”