The game kicked off in glorious sunshine Shields in their change kit of red with a large crowd of supporters mustering on the “home-side” touchline ready to spur the team on. Unfortunately it is difficult to describe the action entirely accurately as I for one was far too caught up in the occasion to concentrate on the details of the game.
Essentially Shields had a strong half, defending well in the early stages despite suffering an injury to centre Nick Ward. As the half went on the team grew in confidence. Rob Dixon was the first to threaten the Bishop defences, having broken threw a tackle in the midfield he went on a scintillating run down the wing, only to be brought down a few metres short by an excellent Bishop cover tackle.
However the half was not to end scoreless, with Shields using their most potent weapon this season, the rolling maul. Ben Dalton held his nerve well to throw in good ball at the line-out, setting up the drive, and it was Ben himself who crashed over to score. Daniel Persson’s “big boot” ensured Shields picked up the vital extras.
In the 2nd half Shields had more chances to score but could not quite capitalise on numerous occasions. Shields soon added another three points to the score mid-way threw the half to stretch the lead to ten-nil.
The Auckland team rallied well and set-about besieging the Shields half. Fortunately the ever alert Lee Austin intercepted to streak away up the pitch, much to the delight of the home spectators. Unfortunately this engine is now of a “vintage class Ferrari “ type and does not quite have the speed of his former years. Despite this Austin kept his composure to place a neat kick in for D.Perrson to give chase but a well scrambled Auckland defence prevented the try.
Auckland then suddenly improved dramatically whether the Shields player’s began suffering from nerves as the final whistle approached or the heat of the day caught up with the Shields players are both points worth raising. Nevertheless Auckland began an onslaught, retaining ball well and fizzing the ball out wide to their wingers. Shields looked at times stretched but were just about holding firm. The pressure was clearly telling on Shields and young A. Fraser who had a fantastic game yet again perhaps showed a little inexperience by slapping the ball down from a ruck and was sent for a ten minute spell.
Auckland were then awarded a penalty just a couple of metres from the Shields try-line however rather than go for the five points which seemed an inevitable outcome given the pressure the team were under, Auckland opted to take 3 points. Auckland were then themselves reduced to ten and despite a nervy last few minutes Shields held on for a 10-6 victory.
The day however was not to end there, as news filtered threw in the following hours Winlaton had pulled off a stunning upset against Acklam and had leapfrogged Shields in the table. Sadly after Yarm’s win this weekend Shields will now be playing their rugby in the 3rd division next year. It is not for me to point out the failures of this season’s campaign, but what must be said is that this is a huge disappointment for the club particularly considering the performances of late which have proven without doubt the team can compete in this division.
Try scorer: B.Dalton
Man of the Match: A.Fraser
Next Home match: 3 Rifles (H) – info on club website
