Kingstone Press League 1 – 24 June 2017
London Skolars 10 Barrow Raiders 20
Skolars pushed third placed Barrow hard, but the defeat meant that they will have to win their last three game for a chance to make the top eight when the league splits into two in Mid-July.
Both sides forced goal-line drop outs early on, but it was Skolars that took the lead when player coach Jermaine Coleman slipped out a short to Lamont Bryan that opened up the defence. Jy-Mel Coleman added the conversion.
Skolars conceded a penalty close to their own line and the Cumbrians levelled the scores when Martin Aspinwall ducked underneath a tackle before passing to Oliver Wilkes, who scored under the posts, Lewis Charnock added the extras.
Skolars regained the lead Jy-Mel Coleman’s pass gave Josh Allison some room to attack and score on the right, though Coleman missed the conversion. The lead didn’t last long, an error again giving the Raiders a chance to attack. Nathan Mossop looked to his left five metres out and the defence moved before he’d had a chance to dummy, he strolled over and Lewis Charnock converted. Charnock added a penalty a few minutes later.
The half ended with Skolars camped on the Barrow line, with the referee calling half-time with over a minute showing on both timekeepers stopwatches. If he hadn’t heard the hooter at the start of the game, he certainly heard it before the start of the second half, along with sarcastic cheers from the crowd.
Barrow had a couple of early chances to go further ahead, Declan Hulme being caught after Nathan Mossop made a good break, and Charnock losing control of a pass from Matty While close to the tryline. They extended the lead with another penalty.
Skolars also went close, Bryan was tackled short of the line and a penalty was awarded, but something was clearly said and the second rower was sin-binned. His side dominated the game in his absence, with debutant Jordan Williams making a 30 metre break and only being denied a try because the referee blew for a high shot as Williams took the ball a metre from the line. They chose to run the ball at a penalty, but the Raiders were prepared to conceded drop-outs and keep defending.
With Charnock off with for head injury assessment, Jamie Dallimore kicked penalty goals in the last five minutes, leaving Skolars frustrated again.
LONDON SKOLARS
7 Mike Bishay
2 Sam Nash
24 Michael Brown
4 Lameck Juma
22 John Paxton
6 Jy-Mel Coleman
29 Jermaine Coleman
25 Michael Sykes
9 Charlie Lawrence
10 David Williams
11 Lamont Bryan
3 Josh Allison
13 Ryan Chester
Subs (all used)
14 Billy Driver
8 Louis Robinson
28 Jordan Williams
18 Michael Greenhalgh
Tries: Bryan (15), Allison (27)
Goals: Jy-Mel Coleman1/2
Sin-bin: Bryan (56) – dissent
RAIDERS
1 Ryan Fieldhouse
2 Brett Carter
3 Declan Hulme
24 Eze Harper
45 Thomas Loxam
6 Jamie Dallimore
7 Lewis Charnock
17 Tom Walker
15 Karl Ashall
10 Oliver Wilkes
11 Dan Toal
12 Jarrod Stack
34 Martin Aspinwall
Subs (all used)
9 Nathan Mossop
16 Andrew Dawson
25 Matty While
21 James Duerden
Tries: Wilkes (21), Mossop (29)
Goals: Charnock 4/4, Dallimore 2/2
Penalty count: 9-13
Half-time: 10-14
Referee: Geoffery Poumes
Attendance: 374
SCORING SEQUENCE: 6-0, 6-6, 10-6, 10-12, 10-14, 10-16, 10-18, 10-20
