White sustains shoulder injury as Kendal fall at Stockport (From The Westmorland Gazette)

White sustains shoulder injury as Kendal fall at Stockport

12:39pm Monday 19th September 2011 in Sport

National League 2 North
Stockport 35
Kendal 23
An old adage in rugby says that you cannot win a game of rugby without gaining enough possession from scrums and line-outs.

Well, on Saturday, Kendal did reasonably well in the set scrums, but their line outs were a disaster and we lost count of the number of line-outs which were lost, even on their own throw.

Add to that, a succession of injuries laid waste to the Cumbrian back row, with Dan White sustaining a serious shoulder injury in the first half and Joe Mallinson limping to the sidelines in the second period with a badly bruised ankle.

Kendal had similar disruption against Nuneaton a few weeks ago, but the replacements stood up to be counted. This time, the lads lost their shape and composure against a feisty Stockport outfit which had obviously recruited well in the summer months.

The Cheshire players, having already beaten Loughborough Students two weeks previously, were determined to add to their scalps, and you cannot play winning rugby without the ball.

Right from the kick off, Stockport battered the Cumbrian try line, but Kendal held firm until the 12th minute when Alex Zavallis-Roebuck - their sharp fly half - made a dart for the Kendal posts, was held, but smart backing up from his No.8 Jordan Pearson saw him crash over the line. First points to Stockport, though Mark Ireland narrowed the gap with a simple penalty goal.

Dan White had already left the field, replaced by Matty Houghton, who put himself about, as usual, covering lots of ground all over the park.

Zavallis-Roebuck, who was having a strong influence on the game, chipped through on the half hour, and strong following up by their back row saw Nick Smith gain the second touchdown, his fly half converting.

It was mostly backs to the wall for Kendal, who were constantly chasing the ball and the only attack of note for a long time was a strong run and kick from Kris Bratton to the left corner, but he was shoulder charged off the ball as he chased his own kick.

Then at last Kendal gained some hard won possession and laid siege to the home line. Nick Smith in the home pack was rightly yellow carded for trying to kill the ball in the ruck, and with one man short, the Stockport pack was unable to contain the Cumbrian drive, Joe Mallinson gaining the try in the far left hand corner.

It made no difference to Mark Ireland, who was in impeccable form with his goalkicking, and booted over a fine conversion. Somehow, Kendal had managed to narrow the gap to 15-13 as the half time whistle blew.

The Kendal faithful were hoping for better things in the second half, but unfortunately Stockport were given too much room to play, as Alex Zavallis-Roebuck increased their lead with a neat drop goal from close in.

Halfway through the second period, Jamie Anthony, on the right wing, sneaked over in the corner, for another converted try, and it was looking bleak for Kendal.

Zavallis-Roebuck did a neat scissors with his French centre, Bayssat, which nearly brought another try. Mark Ireland kicked a second penalty, but it made no difference as Stockport piled on the pressure.

The home pack wheeled the scrum, and Nick Smith barged over for another five pointer in spite of an excellent tackle by Ian Voortman.

The one bright spark of the second half, from a Cumbrian point of view, came when Ben Alderson arrived on the field at scrum half.

Within one minute of coming off the replacements bench, he chased down the left touchline, jinking twice off either foot, and dashing forty metres towards the tryline. He was eventually stopped by the scrambling home defence, but the Kendal pack won the ball and Ben finished off the move by planting the ball under the posts, for Mark's simple conversion.

It was a superb piece of individual skill, the move started and finished by the same player.

Suddenly, looking for a morsel of comfort from a poor performance, Kendal were 30-23 down, in injury time, and looking for a losing bonus point, but it was not to be.

Stockport drove back to the other end, and Paul Ralph went over from short range for a hotly disputed final try, many claiming that he had been grounded short of the line.

It did not matter, a disorganised Kendal squad had been soundly beaten by a newly promoted Stockport who fully deserved their victory.

This is a tough and even league, there have been many surprise wins already, and it remains to be seen whether the lads from Mint Bridge can get back on the road, with their next game being at home next Saturday, against Hull Ionians.