Ipswich Rhinos Rugby League Club

...MATCH REPORT...

TOTALRL.COM RUGBY LEAGUE CONFERENCE

HARRY JEPSON TROPHY
PLAY-OFF QUARTER FINAL REPORT

16 AUGUST 2003
CRAWLEY 22 - 27 IPSWICH RHINOS

UNSUNG HEROES INSPIRE IPSWICH RHINOS TO CLASSIC VICTORY

Ipswich will play much fancied Bridgend Bulls at Coventry next Sunday in the semi-final of the Total RL.Com Rugby League Conference. Among Bridgend's number is Alan Bateman "The Prince of Centres" of Warrington, Great Britain, Wales, Barbarians and British Lions fame. Lining up with him are a string of former Rugby League stars from the valleys and Welsh union internationals including John Deveraux (Widnes,Great Britain and Wales) and Kevin Ellis (Warrington and Wales).

On Saturday Ipswich Rhinos pulled off a sensational result overcoming Crawley Jets in a truely strirring cup tie. This is Ipswich's greatest ever season and they can truly be proud of their achievements having beaten allcomers all summer and sweeping aside seemingly stronger play off opposition for the last three weeks on the trot. To it's diehard aficionados, Rugby League is known as "The Greatest Game" - to everyone else it is just a very good game. Now Ipswich Rhinos Rugby League Club and their Players know why it really is "the greatest game". Ipswich Rhinos are part of the success story of a league that started in the South of England just a few years ago with nine clubs - including the Rhinos - and which has now expanded to embrace the whole country and Wales with fifty two clubs. At the top of this tree remain four Clubs: Bridgend who will play Ipswich and Carlisle who meet Birmingham in the other semi final.

The players who rarely get mentioned in match reports - because they dont score many tries - built the foundations for this impressive win. Second rowers Richard Burton and Andy Windridge towered over their opposite numbers. Burton who spent much of the second half nursing a shoulder injury still managed a remarkable 20 tackles in the time that he was on the field. Dave Signor, something of a team talisman in his second spell at the club, also led from the front scoring two crucial tries and topping the tackle chart with 22 bone crunchers. Patrick Duffy playing his first full game since May somehow stayed on the field for the full course of the game putting in some crucial challenges.

Ipswich's talented band of youngsters led the way scoring all six of the teams tries. Exciting winger Dave West opened the scoring after a tense opening 15 minutes when Pete Le Marquand carved open the home defence before delivering a pinpoint pass fifteen metres into the hands of West for his 17th touchdown of the year. The try will have done West's chances of landing the Young Conference Player of the year award - for which he has been shortlisted - no harm at all. Crawley fought back and Luke Denham cut through Ipswich's blindside showing impressive pace for a prop forward to score from the half way line with Justin Kemp-Gee's conversion giving the Jets a 6-4 lead. Just six minutes later Ipswich were awarded a penalty and the ever alert hooker Dave Signor snapped up a half chance to sneak over for a try to put Ipswich back in the lead 6-8.

Half back Mike Reeves arrived on the scene late due to traffic hold ups but even his introduction could not prevent Crawley Loose forward Tony Emmins from powering over after good work from Kemp-Gee who coverted to give the home side a 12-8 lead. Pete Smith took a huge double tackle after a darting break. In the aftermath, Signor was quickest to react and scooted to the line. Despite the attentions of three tacklers he streched out his arm and placed the ball over the try line. Referee Andy Howe of Bridlington was well placed and awarded a fair but hotly disputed try to tie the game 12-12. Denham had the chance to give Crawley the lead on the stroke of half time but having burst through the Ipswich defence lost the ball as he was in the act of touching down. This error was the break Ipswich needed and the referee blew up for half time with the scores still level.

Both sides took to the field for the second half knowing that there was everything to play for and also aware that one of them would be ending the season in forty or so minutes time. Again,the opening exchanges were tense as both teams probed for weaknesses. With two visibly tiring teams the score remained unchanged for a full 20 minutes. In that time, full back Paul Le Marquand was solid in defence fielding several high balls and returning them all with interest. Pete Le Marquand had an attempted drop goal go wide of the posts before loose forward Emmins broke the deadlock scoring his second try from close range. The try was unconverted and Crawley had the lead again at 16-12. Despite being behind, Ipswich's regular use of the interchange in the forward line was begining to tell with Crawleys injury count mounting. Mike Fields, vying with Dave West to be Ipswich's top try scorer, added his 16th try of the season with a sublime break to power clear to tie the game at 16-16 but again the conversion was missed.

From the Crawley restart Mike Reeves easily gathered a short kick-off to launch Ipswich on the attack again. Goal kicking aside Ipswich Captain Pete Le Marquand was having a great game and was wining his personal duel with the Jets half backs Kemp-Gee and Gus Godden. Hard working prop forwards Dan Garbutt and Andy Wilson built the platform for Ipswich to finally pull clear when teenager Smith finished off a move to give Ipswich a 16-20 lead. Another short restart by Crawley saw Fields tackled in mid air as he attempted to gather the ball and Crawley won possession. Alarmingly this went unnoticed by the referee. Kemp Gee was lucky to stay on the field when after releasing his winger with a well timed pass he pulled back Matt Harewood by the shorts preventing him from tackling the winger. Moments later Paul Le Marquand joined him in the last chance saloon when he was warned and penalised for an ill timed high tackle.

The industrious Kemp-Gee was trying everything to conjure up an opening for the Jets including chipping the ball on three occasions over the advancing Ipswich defence.But with the covering play by full back Paul Le Marquand swallowing up the ball each time he was simply throwing away Crawley's much needed possession. In the dying minutes of a bruising encounter three Ipswich scores looked to have won the match when a fast passing move across the pitch cut the home defence apart and youngster Adam Cook, who started the game at scrum half before slipping into the scrum, darted clear for a try which was converted by Mike Reeves. Adam, the younger of the Cook brothers further put his mark on the game with a cleverly executed kick to touch from well inside his own half which produced a 40/20 decision from the refereee which under Rugby League rules awards the resulting scrum to the attacking side. Pete Le Marquand deservedly slotted away a drop goal to seemingly seal the game.

Richard Billing typified Crawley's never say die attitude and showed their cup tie pedigree when he eluded his markers to score a try converted by Kemp-Gee. This meant Ipswich had to defend a five point lead. Any mistakes and Ipswich could be out of the competiton. Normal time was up but the Referee indicated there were still two more minutes of added time left. In the tense moments that followed, Ipswich pinned Crawley in their own half determined to tackle out the remaining time. Crawley were looking to produce the breakaway try which would win the match, but an over anxious attempt to play the ball from Crawley saw full back Lee Preston knock on and Ipswich had the ball back from the resulting scrum inside the Jets own 22 metre line.

The full time whistle was met with jubilation for Ipswich and tears of joy from their small, but noisy travelling band of supporters. In the end there had to be a loser of a gripping cup tie. The "Prince of Centres" and all that Bridgend can offer awaits at Coventry next Sunday.

Ipswich: Pete Le Marquand, Matt Harewood, Pete Smith, Mike Fields, Dave West, Pete Le Marquand, Adam Cook, Andy Wilson, Dave Signor, Dan Garbutt, Richard Burton, Andy Windridge, Brendan Cook.

Replacements (all used): Mike Reeves,Chris Coates, Darryl Walters, Patrick Duffy.

Tries: West, Signor (2), Cook, Fields, Smith. Conversion: Reeves
Drop Goal: Pete Le Marquand.

Man of the Match: Dave Signor.

Reporter: Dave Flaherty


	...MATCH REPORT... TOTALRL.COM RUGBY LEAGUE CONFERENCE HARRY JEPSON TROPHY PLAY-OFF QUARTER FINAL REPORT 16 AUGUST 2003 CRAWLEY 22 - 27 IPSWICH RHINOS UNSUNG HEROES INSPIRE IPSWICH RHINOS TO CLASSIC VICTORY Ipswich will play much fancied Bridgend Bulls at Coventry next Sunday in the semi-final of the Total RL.Com Rugby League Conference. Among Bridgend's number is Alan Bateman "The Prince of Centres" of Warrington, Great Britain, Wales, Barbarians and British Lions fame. Lining up with him are a string of former Rugby League stars from the valleys and Welsh union internationals including John Deveraux (Widnes,Great Britain and Wales) and Kevin Ellis (Warrington and Wales). On Saturday Ipswich Rhinos pulled off a sensational result overcoming Crawley Jets in a truely strirring cup tie. This is Ipswich's greatest ever season and they can truly be proud of their achievements having beaten allcomers all summer and sweeping aside seemingly stronger play off opposition for the last three weeks on the trot. To it's diehard aficionados, Rugby League is known as "The Greatest Game" - to everyone else it is just a very good game. Now Ipswich Rhinos Rugby League Club and their Players know why it really is "the greatest game". Ipswich Rhinos are part of the success story of a league that started in the South of England just a few years ago with nine clubs - including the Rhinos - and which has now expanded to embrace the whole country and Wales with fifty two clubs. At the top of this tree remain four Clubs: Bridgend who will play Ipswich and Carlisle who meet Birmingham in the other semi final. The players who rarely get mentioned in match reports - because they dont score many tries - built the foundations for this impressive win. Second rowers Richard Burton and Andy Windridge towered over their opposite numbers. Burton who spent much of the second half nursing a shoulder injury still managed a remarkable 20 tackles in the time that he was on the field. Dave Signor, something of a team talisman in his second spell at the club, also led from the front scoring two crucial tries and topping the tackle chart with 22 bone crunchers. Patrick Duffy playing his first full game since May somehow stayed on the field for the full course of the game putting in some crucial challenges. Ipswich's talented band of youngsters led the way scoring all six of the teams tries. Exciting winger Dave West opened the scoring after a tense opening 15 minutes when Pete Le Marquand carved open the home defence before delivering a pinpoint pass fifteen metres into the hands of West for his 17th touchdown of the year. The try will have done West's chances of landing the Young Conference Player of the year award - for which he has been shortlisted - no harm at all. Crawley fought back and Luke Denham cut through Ipswich's blindside showing impressive pace for a prop forward to score from the half way line with Justin Kemp-Gee's conversion giving the Jets a 6-4 lead. Just six minutes later Ipswich were awarded a penalty and the ever alert hooker Dave Signor snapped up a half chance to sneak over for a try to put Ipswich back in the lead 6-8. Half back Mike Reeves arrived on the scene late due to traffic hold ups but even his introduction could not prevent Crawley Loose forward Tony Emmins from powering over after good work from Kemp-Gee who coverted to give the home side a 12-8 lead. Pete Smith took a huge double tackle after a darting break. In the aftermath, Signor was quickest to react and scooted to the line. Despite the attentions of three tacklers he streched out his arm and placed the ball over the try line. Referee Andy Howe of Bridlington was well placed and awarded a fair but hotly disputed try to tie the game 12-12. Denham had the chance to give Crawley the lead on the stroke of half time but having burst through the Ipswich defence lost the ball as he was in the act of touching down. This error was the break Ipswich needed and the referee blew up for half time with the scores still level. Both sides took to the field for the second half knowing that there was everything to play for and also aware that one of them would be ending the season in forty or so minutes time. Again,the opening exchanges were tense as both teams probed for weaknesses. With two visibly tiring teams the score remained unchanged for a full 20 minutes. In that time, full back Paul Le Marquand was solid in defence fielding several high balls and returning them all with interest. Pete Le Marquand had an attempted drop goal go wide of the posts before loose forward Emmins broke the deadlock scoring his second try from close range. The try was unconverted and Crawley had the lead again at 16-12. Despite being behind, Ipswich's regular use of the interchange in the forward line was begining to tell with Crawleys injury count mounting. Mike Fields, vying with Dave West to be Ipswich's top try scorer, added his 16th try of the season with a sublime break to power clear to tie the game at 16-16 but again the conversion was missed. From the Crawley restart Mike Reeves easily gathered a short kick-off to launch Ipswich on the attack again. Goal kicking aside Ipswich Captain Pete Le Marquand was having a great game and was wining his personal duel with the Jets half backs Kemp-Gee and Gus Godden. Hard working prop forwards Dan Garbutt and Andy Wilson built the platform for Ipswich to finally pull clear when teenager Smith finished off a move to give Ipswich a 16-20 lead. Another short restart by Crawley saw Fields tackled in mid air as he attempted to gather the ball and Crawley won possession. Alarmingly this went unnoticed by the referee. Kemp Gee was lucky to stay on the field when after releasing his winger with a well timed pass he pulled back Matt Harewood by the shorts preventing him from tackling the winger. Moments later Paul Le Marquand joined him in the last chance saloon when he was warned and penalised for an ill timed high tackle. The industrious Kemp-Gee was trying everything to conjure up an opening for the Jets including chipping the ball on three occasions over the advancing Ipswich defence.But with the covering play by full back Paul Le Marquand swallowing up the ball each time he was simply throwing away Crawley's much needed possession. In the dying minutes of a bruising encounter three Ipswich scores looked to have won the match when a fast passing move across the pitch cut the home defence apart and youngster Adam Cook, who started the game at scrum half before slipping into the scrum, darted clear for a try which was converted by Mike Reeves. Adam, the younger of the Cook brothers further put his mark on the game with a cleverly executed kick to touch from well inside his own half which produced a 40/20 decision from the refereee which under Rugby League rules awards the resulting scrum to the attacking side. Pete Le Marquand deservedly slotted away a drop goal to seemingly seal the game. Richard Billing typified Crawley's never say die attitude and showed their cup tie pedigree when he eluded his markers to score a try converted by Kemp-Gee. This meant Ipswich had to defend a five point lead. Any mistakes and Ipswich could be out of the competiton. Normal time was up but the Referee indicated there were still two more minutes of added time left. In the tense moments that followed, Ipswich pinned Crawley in their own half determined to tackle out the remaining time. Crawley were looking to produce the breakaway try which would win the match, but an over anxious attempt to play the ball from Crawley saw full back Lee Preston knock on and Ipswich had the ball back from the resulting scrum inside the Jets own 22 metre line. The full time whistle was met with jubilation for Ipswich and tears of joy from their small, but noisy travelling band of supporters. In the end there had to be a loser of a gripping cup tie. The "Prince of Centres" and all that Bridgend can offer awaits at Coventry next Sunday. Ipswich: Pete Le Marquand, Matt Harewood, Pete Smith, Mike Fields, Dave West, Pete Le Marquand, Adam Cook, Andy Wilson, Dave Signor, Dan Garbutt, Richard Burton, Andy Windridge, Brendan Cook. Replacements (all used): Mike Reeves,Chris Coates, Darryl Walters, Patrick Duffy. Tries: West, Signor (2), Cook, Fields, Smith. Conversion: Reeves Drop Goal: Pete Le Marquand. Man of the Match: Dave Signor. Reporter: Dave Flaherty