A red hot second half performance from the Warriors consigned Leicester Phoenix to the flames of defeat at a warm and sultry Aylestone St James.
The Warriors scored 36 unanswered points in the second period as the Phoenix wilted in the heat after a strong first half showing had caused the Warriors problems.
Once again, errors and a lack of composure cost the Warriors at crucial times but they had too much pace and power throughout the game for their opponents. Loose forward Ben Constantine turned in a superb show, scoring two tries as the Warriors cut loose in the second period.
The game began with both sides making errors, Warriors coach Tom James pointed out that there are aspects his side still need to work on. “It was a tough first half because of our mistakes and because we were trying to do too much with the ball.”
After play fluctuated from end to end with both sides creating and wasting chances, the Warriors opened the scoring after 19 minutes.
Ben Hough slid a neat kick behind the defence and Dean Barnard was on hand to touch down. Hough converted via the crossbar.
Six minutes later, Andy Cross strode through the Warriors defence to score an unconverted try in the corner to put the Phoenix right back in the game.
They went close again in the same corner, Cross and Dave Nolan almost embarrassing some soft defence but the Warriors held out and worked their way up the field, Constantine crossing for a strong try, converted by Stephan Fourie.
Right on half time, Chris Furze sneaked over from dummy half to score the Warriors third try and set up a 16-4 interval lead.
The second half began in spectacular fashion, Constantine returning the kick off to the Phoenix ten-metre zone before Jack Petelo put Areta Tanoai over under the posts. Hough converted and with the Warriors making breaks seemingly at will, the Phoenix began to collapse.
Fourie’s crossfield kick bounced badly for both sides but Hough grabbed the loose ball and scored in the corner to extend the lead further after 54 minutes.
Two tries in as many minutes from Comber then sealed the points. For his first he backed up another long break from Constantine to score and his second came from Fourie’s interception and elusive running. Furze converted the first and with the Phoenix running out of players through injury, the writing was on the wall.
The Warriors totally dominated the last ten minutes with the Phoenix holding the ball for just one set of tackles during which, Steve Lee bravely saved the Warriors grabbing a loose ball among the flying boots on the visitors’ line.
With the referee seemingly ignoring advantage, Kirk Bace was recalled with open field in front of him for a Warriors scrum and then Furze had a try disallowed for a Leicester infringement. From the penalty, Fourie’s lovely wide pass gave Josh Pettifer a try in the corner.
Constantine then dropped off a fine pass to Fourie who powered in for a try converted by Hough before the loose forward finished the scoring with the last play of the game racing away from the defence to score on a 60-metre run to the line.
Teams:
LEICESTER PHOENIX: Jamie Howe, Luke Yates, Ben Howe, Andy Turner, Ian Marsh, Kam Harris, Matt Charlton, Ryan Taylor, Duncan Merrill, Ricky Davey, Lawrence Phillips, Mahood Saad, Dave Nolan. Replacements: Tom Ball, Jack Reader, Simon Anniss, Guy Hollidge, Wade Wilson, Jim Cornish, Andy Cross.
Scorers: Tries; Andy Cross (25). Conversions; Simon Anniss 0 from 1
GLOUCESTERSHIRE WARRIORS: Andy Claydon, Rich Carter, Simon Comber, Stephan Fourie, Kirk Bace, Ben Hough, Chris Furze, Jack Petelo, Steve Lee, Areta Tanoai, Dean Barnard (Capt.), Steve Davies, Ben Constantine. Replacements: Dennis Kenna, Dave Potter, Tom James, Dean Hobbs, Josh Pettifer.
Scorers: Tries; Dean Barnard (19), Ben Constantine (35, 80), Chris Furze (39), Areta Tanoai (41), Ben Hough (54), James Comber (61, 63), Josh Pettifer (70), Stephan Fourie (74). Conversions; Ben Hough 3 from 5, Stephan Fourie 1 from 2, Chris Furze 1 from 1, Josh Pettifer 0 from 1, Jack Petelo 1 from 1
Referee: Andy Howe (York RLRS)
Star Man: Stephan Fourie
Penalties: Phoenix 13 Warriors 10.
Scoring sequence: 0-6, 4-6, 4-12, 4-16, (HT), 4-22, 4-26, 4-32, 4-36, 4-40, 4-46, 4-52, (FT).
Match Reaction
Warriors coach Tom James was pleased with the result. “I was delighted with our defensive effort”, he said. “We missed two tackles in the whole game and they scored once and should have scored a second”.
“We need to develop our attacking game more if we are to succeed against the best teams. We need to start completing our sets and develop our game into a wide expansive and exciting style of play. However, we must get the basics right before we can do that”.
“We started to show signs of being able to play proper rugby league today instead of looking like a rugby union side trying to play rugby league.”
Following their humbling by Nottingham Outlaws last weekend, the Gloucestershire Warriors travel to Leicester to face the Phoenix looking to get back to winning ways in the Co-operative Rugby League Conference Midland Premier division (kick off 2.30pm).
The Phoenix have themselves been heavily beaten by the Outlaws, losing 58-4 on the opening day of the season and last week crashed to a 100-0 loss at the hands of the division’s new boys, Bedford Tigers.
The Phoenix have relocated this season and are playing out of Aylestone St James RFC. They were hoping that the move and the new season would bring them a change of fortune after a dismal 2007 campaign but the size of the loss at Bedford must have hit morale hard.
In front of their own fans, they will be looking to make amends and the Warriors would do well to guard against complacency in their quest for the points.
Last season, the Warriors recorded home and away wins over the Phoenix with the 44-12 victory in Leicester being their biggest ever away win over them.
A Warriors spokesman said: “We have yet to really play well this season. Our ball control has been poor in both our games and you just can’t do that against anyone in this division. If we address that and put some structure back in our game, we are confident that we can go there and get a result.”
“The players we have available are certainly capable of playing some great rugby league but we need to get the foundations right before we can build the kind of game we want to play.”
Coach Tom James will hope to have available most of the side that lost to the Outlaws last week and is happy to give them a chance to redeem themselves against the Phoenix.
“I know we’re capable of better than what we’ve played so far this season,” he said. “It hasn’t happened as quickly as I would have liked but there are definite signs we are progressing. I’d like to see more of the same this week because there are plenty of tough games to come.”
Elsewhere in the Midlands Premier, Bedford travel to Coventry Bears aiming to build on their tremendous win over Leicester but the reigning champions will be in no mood to let their title slip and a close game looks sure to ensue.
The Bears used their bye week last weekend to compete in the Cheltenham 9s at the Cheltenham Rugby Festival and, though they lost all their pool matches, a number of players new to the club gained some valuable experience.
There is a big derby in the East Midlands as league leaders Nottingham take on Derby City in what is bound to be a fiercely contested game. The Outlaws won both the encounters last season but there was precious little between the sides and City will be encouraged by their win over Birmingham last week especially as they came from 22-6 down to win 29-22.
The Outlaws have yet to taste defeat this season and their unbeaten run will be under threat this week.
WARRIORS MILESTONES
Ronnie Haines made his 50th appearance for the Warriors against Nottingham last week. Haines debuted in the Warriors first ever match against Chester Wolves in May 1998 and has also played for Hemel Hempstead and London Broncos ‘A’. He has represented the RLC and has played for England Lionhearts.
Two players scored on their debuts against Birmingham Bulldogs in Round 1. Prop Brad Tindall and stand off Stephan Fourie, who scored three tries.
On Saturday 3rd March, with the Super League Millennium Magic weekend waiting to kick off in Cardiff, Gloucester Warriors played host to Nottingham Outlaws. Pundits predicted a difficult fixture for the Outlaws as they had never previously beaten Gloucestershire at Chosen Hill. However, in a hard-fought encounter, the Outlaws were too sharp for the Warriors and they travelled home with a 14-42 victory under their belts.
The speed of the Outlaw’s attack in the first half caught the Warriors by surprise and the first score for the Outlaws came with only three minutes on the clock. Gloucestershire opened their scoring with a penalty and had a first half try disallowed for a marginal forward pass decision.
The Outlaws replied with two further tries, but failed to secure both conversions – raising the score to 2-16. Stung by this reversal the Warriors redoubled their attacking efforts and the Outlaws’ defence began to creak. The Warriors eventually pierced the Outlaws line to post a try under the posts just on the stroke of half time to claw the Outlaws lead back to 16-8.
The Outlaws started the second half at break-neck speed scoring three tries in quick succession to stretch the lead to 30-8.
The Warriors refused to be bowed and as the Outlaws defence began to tire the more physical Warriors pack began to get the upper hand. As the Warriors finally began to dominate field position a quick tap-penalty caught the Outlaws defence napping and Gloucestershire team scooted in for a converted try that pegged the score back to 30-14.
The last twenty minutes of the match were frustrating for the Warriors. Time and again Gloucestershire came agonizingly close to scoring only to be repelled by the Outlaws’ determined scrambling defence.
As the clock ticked down the Outlaws line held firm, sapping the energy out of a gallant Gloucestershire attack. As the game slipped away from the Warriors the Outlaws found renewed energy and broke out of defence, scoring a further two tries to seal the victory.
