Season Review Part 1

By Whaley Shark
May 18 2014

OK. So the sun's shining, even in the Bleak Peak as my brother-in-law refers to it, rugby's finished as far as we are concerned, and the board needs regular updating. So I'm starting with a look back at last season.....

 

 

Well it doesn’t seem like nine months to the day since I found my way back to Heywood Road for the pre-season friendly against Leeds. We ran out comfortable winners that day and, looking back at my report, our solid defence was already taking shape and formed the platform for that win. After a right stuffing in Cardiff, it was down the M5 to Gloucester for the first real action of the season. That was the first sign that last season’s easy-beats had changed their attitude, as we accelerated into a good lead, then held on to win, much to the astonishment and disgust of the Kingsholm crowd.

Our first home game at the newly christened A J Bell Stadium suggested we might be in for another inconsistent season (from Sale Sharks- surely not?!), as we let a narrow lead slip away in the face of some pretty attritional rugby from Newcastle Falcons, and went down to a 14-15 defeat. Conclusion- there are no easy games in the AP. However, the following week, we got our first home AP points with a narrow win against Wasps, scraping home 23-22, but losing Josh Beaumont and Nick Macleod, who seemed to be Dimes’ preferred starting 10 for the early games, to serious injuries. With less than 7000 at each of these matches, the attendances at these home games were also a sign of things to come.

Next up, Saints away, and the first game of the season which failed to yield at least one point as we conceded five tries as we went down to a classy Northampton side. October saw us win a close-fought game at home to Bath and, after a break for European games, lose 24-3 to Quins away. Then, as autumn turned to winter, Exeter, our bogey side, came to Salford and nicked the four points. Fifteen minutes of ill-discipline, with three players binned, was sufficient to let Exeter get ahead and we couldn’t quite close the gap. After a couple of rounds of LV= action, Worcester, another bogey side, but winless this season visited. Lacking their usual spirit, they gave us a first try bonus point of the season. We finished the month away at Saracens, where we led until the last ten minutes, before finally cracking.

December opened with more Amlin, then we hosted London Irish at the AJ Bell before Christmas. On a filthy evening, Irish never got going, to give us a comfortable win. A week later, in the last game of the year, Tigers took an early lead at Welford Road and seemed certain of the four-try bonus until a second half fight back brought us right back into contention. In the end, Tigers pulled away to win, but they’d certainly earned the four points.

Looking back now, the pattern for our season had emerged very early on. The positives were plenty of fight, with none of the away capitulations we’d seen in previous seasons, and a very robust defence. Our well known inconsistency was still evident though, with a number of surprises, both good and bad, and our home crowds were distinctly thin. I’ll take a look at the second half of the season in a couple of weeks’ time.