Ipswich Rhinos Rugby League Club

...MATCH REPORT...

2004 TOTALRL.COM RUGBY LEAGUE CONFERENCE

1 May 2004

RHINOS SILENCE ROOSTER CROW

St Ives Roosters 4 - 46 Ipswich Rhinos

In the opening Totalrl.com Conference game of the 2004 season, Ipswich Rhinos traveled to St Ives Roosters, and despite missing several key players, sent an early message to their Eastern Division rivals that there is a new strength and depth to their squad, and a determination to better last years successful season. It took the Rhinos only three minutes to set the mood for the afternoon. St Ives were penalised for dissent on their opening attack. Through their opening set of six tackles the Rhinos steadily progressed from their own 20-metre line to St. Ives. where Peter Le Marquand's grubber kick was grounded between the posts by Tane Trafford. Peter Le Marquand converting to put the Rhinos 6 points ahead. From the restart the Rhinos regained possession and on the second tackle prop Andy Wilson pushed through two defenders and set off on a 60 metre break. 10 metres from the line St Ives full back Grant McCormack did well to block his progress but Wilson off loaded to Brendan Cook in close support who gave Peter LeMarquand the easiest of conversions by scoring under the posts to make the score 0-12.

With a number of forced changes from the side that scored an impressive victory against Birmingham Bulldogs the previous week the Rhinos struggled to maintain their rhythm over the next quarter of an hour. Both sides enjoyed spells of pressure but lost scoring chances because of basic errors. Then on 19 minutes the referee finally ran out of patience with the St Ives backchat and sent David Sykes, the St Ives hooker, to the sin bin. On the second play from the resulting penalty, Ipswich lost the ball in the tackle, however it bounced kindly for loose forward Brendan Cook on the half way line, who split the centre of the St Ives defence to score his second try of the game under the posts, giving Le Marquand another easy conversion. From the restart Brendan Cook almost completed his hat trick when he was tackled on the St Ives try line on the sixth tackle. From the turn over St Ives pushed the Rhinos back to their own 20 metre line and held them there for their best attacking spell of the game, and on 33 minutes John Paxton scored an unconverted try to bring the score back to 4 points to 18. Ipswich were caught out when a St. Ives fumble on their sixth tackle struck an Ipswich player and the referee reset their tackle count. St Ives quick reaction caught the Ipswich defence flat footed and Paxton pushed his way past several defenders to score from close range. Ipswich, however responded to the wake up call with two further tries before half time to make the score 4-28 at the break.

On 37 minutes Ipswich were awarded a scrum on the St Ives 20-metre line from which they moved the ball quickly through a number of hands across the full width of the pitch for Allistar Leighton-Scott to score in the corner. From the restart David Gawne then Tane Trafford made good distance to restore the Rhinos to a good attacking position from which Adam Cook was able to force his way over the line from close range. Ipswich applied the pressure from the restart and scored within minutes with a second try from Allistar Leighton-Scott. Good cross-field play set full back Adam Cook free in space, sucking in the wide defenders before off loading to Leighton-Scott on the wing to cross the line in the corner. Ipswich maintained the pressure for much of the second half but did not score again until the 65th minute due to some stubborn defending by the Roosters for whom Jack Blackley and Dan McCormack worked particularly hard.

On 65 minutes Peter LeMarquand and Tane Trafford combined well in the centre of the park to open up the defence and set Darryl Waters free to run in from 30 metres. LeMarquand converting to make it 38-4 to the Rhinos. On 72 minutes St Ives discipline cost them further points. When tackled on his own 30 metre line the St Ives number 8 Tim White claimed that Rhinos loose forward Brendan Cook had held him down in a strangle hold. When his vocal complaints were ignored by the referee he squared up to the Rhinos forward and spat in his face then stormed off the field. Despite calling him back onto the field for a lengthy chat the referee incredibly failed to produce either card, although White did not participate any further in the game. From the resulting penalty St Ives desperately defended their line but on the fourth play Mike Fields forced his way over the line to score an unconverted try from 5 metres. Then on the final whistle Andy Wilson capped an excellent personal performance with an unconverted try after he broke through two sets of tacklers to score from 15 metres to give a final score of 46 - 4 to the Ipswich Rhinos.

Next week the Rhinos entertain Cambridge in their first home game of the Season. Thy will be without their three England Student trialists Brendan Cook, Adam Cook and Pete Smith who have been outstanding in the first two games of the season but will now be missing for the remainder of May due to University exams. However, Dave Signor, Andy Windridge, Dave Husband, and Joe Francis should be available and a number of the rookies look capable of holding down first team squad places. Particularly pleasing was seeing Tane Trafford back in action at St Ives, supporting the Rhinos man of the match Peter LeMarquand in the centre of the park.

St Ives Roosters: McCormack (G), Paxton, Morton, Quegan, Williams, Blackley, McCormack (D), White, Sykes (D), Davies, Richardson, Burke, Sykes (M), Cross, Grieves, Lumleygood, Noble.
Scorer: Paxton (1 try not converted.)
Man of the Match: Jack Blackley.

Ipswich Rhinos: Adam Cook, Steve Simms, Alex Stratton-Thomsett, Mike Fields, Allistar Leighton- Scott, Peter LeMarquand, Tane Trafford, Andy Wilson, Peter Smith, Chris Coates, Darryl Waters, Richard Burton, Brendan Cook, Steve Gleeson, David Gawne, Tom Rumens, Patrick Duffy.
Scorers: Tries: B Cook (2), A Leighton - Scott (2), A Cook, D Waters, A Wilson, T Trafford, M Fields. Conversions: Peter Le Marquand 5 from 9
Man of the Match: Peter LeMarquand.

Reporter: Kevin Cook


	...MATCH REPORT... 2004 TOTALRL.COM RUGBY LEAGUE CONFERENCE 1 May 2004 RHINOS SILENCE ROOSTER CROW St Ives Roosters 4 - 46 Ipswich Rhinos In the opening Totalrl.com Conference game of the 2004 season, Ipswich Rhinos traveled to St Ives Roosters, and despite missing several key players, sent an early message to their Eastern Division rivals that there is a new strength and depth to their squad, and a determination to better last years successful season. It took the Rhinos only three minutes to set the mood for the afternoon. St Ives were penalised for dissent on their opening attack. Through their opening set of six tackles the Rhinos steadily progressed from their own 20-metre line to St. Ives. where Peter Le Marquand's grubber kick was grounded between the posts by Tane Trafford. Peter Le Marquand converting to put the Rhinos 6 points ahead. From the restart the Rhinos regained possession and on the second tackle prop Andy Wilson pushed through two defenders and set off on a 60 metre break. 10 metres from the line St Ives full back Grant McCormack did well to block his progress but Wilson off loaded to Brendan Cook in close support who gave Peter LeMarquand the easiest of conversions by scoring under the posts to make the score 0-12. With a number of forced changes from the side that scored an impressive victory against Birmingham Bulldogs the previous week the Rhinos struggled to maintain their rhythm over the next quarter of an hour. Both sides enjoyed spells of pressure but lost scoring chances because of basic errors. Then on 19 minutes the referee finally ran out of patience with the St Ives backchat and sent David Sykes, the St Ives hooker, to the sin bin. On the second play from the resulting penalty, Ipswich lost the ball in the tackle, however it bounced kindly for loose forward Brendan Cook on the half way line, who split the centre of the St Ives defence to score his second try of the game under the posts, giving Le Marquand another easy conversion. From the restart Brendan Cook almost completed his hat trick when he was tackled on the St Ives try line on the sixth tackle. From the turn over St Ives pushed the Rhinos back to their own 20 metre line and held them there for their best attacking spell of the game, and on 33 minutes John Paxton scored an unconverted try to bring the score back to 4 points to 18. Ipswich were caught out when a St. Ives fumble on their sixth tackle struck an Ipswich player and the referee reset their tackle count. St Ives quick reaction caught the Ipswich defence flat footed and Paxton pushed his way past several defenders to score from close range. Ipswich, however responded to the wake up call with two further tries before half time to make the score 4-28 at the break. On 37 minutes Ipswich were awarded a scrum on the St Ives 20-metre line from which they moved the ball quickly through a number of hands across the full width of the pitch for Allistar Leighton-Scott to score in the corner. From the restart David Gawne then Tane Trafford made good distance to restore the Rhinos to a good attacking position from which Adam Cook was able to force his way over the line from close range. Ipswich applied the pressure from the restart and scored within minutes with a second try from Allistar Leighton-Scott. Good cross-field play set full back Adam Cook free in space, sucking in the wide defenders before off loading to Leighton-Scott on the wing to cross the line in the corner. Ipswich maintained the pressure for much of the second half but did not score again until the 65th minute due to some stubborn defending by the Roosters for whom Jack Blackley and Dan McCormack worked particularly hard. On 65 minutes Peter LeMarquand and Tane Trafford combined well in the centre of the park to open up the defence and set Darryl Waters free to run in from 30 metres. LeMarquand converting to make it 38-4 to the Rhinos. On 72 minutes St Ives discipline cost them further points. When tackled on his own 30 metre line the St Ives number 8 Tim White claimed that Rhinos loose forward Brendan Cook had held him down in a strangle hold. When his vocal complaints were ignored by the referee he squared up to the Rhinos forward and spat in his face then stormed off the field. Despite calling him back onto the field for a lengthy chat the referee incredibly failed to produce either card, although White did not participate any further in the game. From the resulting penalty St Ives desperately defended their line but on the fourth play Mike Fields forced his way over the line to score an unconverted try from 5 metres. Then on the final whistle Andy Wilson capped an excellent personal performance with an unconverted try after he broke through two sets of tacklers to score from 15 metres to give a final score of 46 - 4 to the Ipswich Rhinos. Next week the Rhinos entertain Cambridge in their first home game of the Season. Thy will be without their three England Student trialists Brendan Cook, Adam Cook and Pete Smith who have been outstanding in the first two games of the season but will now be missing for the remainder of May due to University exams. However, Dave Signor, Andy Windridge, Dave Husband, and Joe Francis should be available and a number of the rookies look capable of holding down first team squad places. Particularly pleasing was seeing Tane Trafford back in action at St Ives, supporting the Rhinos man of the match Peter LeMarquand in the centre of the park. St Ives Roosters: McCormack (G), Paxton, Morton, Quegan, Williams, Blackley, McCormack (D), White, Sykes (D), Davies, Richardson, Burke, Sykes (M), Cross, Grieves, Lumleygood, Noble. Scorer: Paxton (1 try not converted.) Man of the Match: Jack Blackley. Ipswich Rhinos: Adam Cook, Steve Simms, Alex Stratton-Thomsett, Mike Fields, Allistar Leighton- Scott, Peter LeMarquand, Tane Trafford, Andy Wilson, Peter Smith, Chris Coates, Darryl Waters, Richard Burton, Brendan Cook, Steve Gleeson, David Gawne, Tom Rumens, Patrick Duffy. Scorers: Tries: B Cook (2), A Leighton - Scott (2), A Cook, D Waters, A Wilson, T Trafford, M Fields. Conversions: Peter Le Marquand 5 from 9 Man of the Match: Peter LeMarquand. Reporter: Kevin Cook