Spoils Shared in Stunning Stalemate Showdown

On a cold, wet and windy Saturday, Collegiate played host to visitors Altrincham Kersal. With both sides in need of points this clash had an extra importance to it.

The games opening moments were dominated by both sides having plenty of the ball, but failing to create significant scoring opportunities, the difficult conditions making running rugby limited.

Collegiate would be the team to break the stalemate. With pressure building up in the opposition half the hosts were rewarded with a penalty. With the penalty struck perfectly Collegiate took a 3-0 lead.

Altringham came back strong after this, with an effective kicking game keeping Collegiate pinned into their half. Despite physical defence from Collegiate it wasn’t enough to stop Altrincham crashing over the line for the first try. With the kick missing the game was on a knife edge as the first half ended 3-5.

Both teams knew they would be up for a battle entering the second half with fatigue and injuries beginning to impact upon both team's performances.

With Collegiate down to 14 men for the majority of the second half due to multiples injuries the task of getting something from this game was drastically increased. Despite this, the team showed fantastic team spirit to battle on.

This determination was finally rewarded with an incredible team try, with powerful drives by the forwards and excellent hands by the backs culminating in a try under the posts, 10-3 to Collegiate.

The lead did not last however. Altrincham kept Collegiate firmly in their 22, and even though they didn’t take a chance for an easy 3 points in front of the posts their possession was compensated. A charged down kick and effective passing out wide resulted in a try in the corner for the visitors. With the conversion missed the game was deadlocked at 10-10.

Altrincham and Collegiate gave their all in the final few minutes of the game making it difficult to see who would get that all important next score.

Collegiate had one last chance, a breakaway run gaining them significant ground. Yet, when the ball was turned over, it looked as if no one could stop the strong Altrincham backs running down the left wing. However tremendous Collegiate defence and last ditch tackles secured a draw for the hosts.

A 10-10 draw was a testament to both sides battling not just each other but the horrendous conditions.

Collegiate 2’s travel to Caldy this week, where they will hope to emulate the performance from the reverse fixture this season.