A baptism of fire

Sep 5 2007 by Chris Roberts

UNDER-STRENGTH St Joseph’s suffered a baptism of fire in the Pennine League Premier Division as they suffered a heavy 50-4 defeat at the hands of title-hopefuls Sharlston Rovers.

The game started brightly for the visitors, and had it not been for some solid defence they would have taken the lead.

But after 20 minutes, Sharlston broke the deadlock with the opening try and by half-time had raced into a big 32-0 lead.

Things failed to improve at the start of the second period as Rovers extended their advantage to 50 points.

In fact, it could have been much worse had St Joseph’s not rallied in the final quarter, with Phil Simpson, Graham Hyland and Paul Horsfall showing up strongly and helping Lee St Hilaire gain a late consolation try.

“We are obviously very disappointed with the heaviness of the defeat,” said coach Jody Shaw.

“We didn’t do ourselves justice in that first half and paid the price against a class outfit in Sharlston, but I was very proud of our response in the second half.

“Sharlston have lost only once at home in the last few years, so it was a really tough start for us.

“I have said to the players that we won’t be facing Sharlston every week and I know we will go alright this season. However, there were some performances out there that didn’t come up to scratch and we will discuss things this week in training.”