As he does every week, long time supporter Chris Osbaldeston gives his view of the game. Ossys match reports are published across Social media each week as he is a supporter writing for supporters. It should be pointed out that like all his reports they are not endorsed, supported by or necessarily the views of the club. A VIEW FROM THE SOUTH STAND - By Chris Osbaldeston DEWSBURY RAMS 12 LEIGH CENTURIONS 28. This was a bad day all round for Dewsbury Rams. I usually try to avoid mentioning match officials in my postings, after all it isn’t the easiest job in the world. On the other hand however, the performance we saw from Dave Merrick yesterday simply can’t be ignored. Even during the warm up he made a point of showing off his power with a series of press ups on the fencing right in the middle of The South Stand whilst exchanging banter with The Leythers. Not the wisest of moves perhaps given what was to follow… The Rams kicked off downwind towards the Owl Lane end and took full advantage of the conditions, opening the scoring with Kieran Hyde intercepting and racing some 60 yards for the first try, Jordan Grayston adding the conversion. It wasn’t all one way though, and The Rams defence had to be at their best to deny Leigh before fighting back, extending their lead with a Grayston penalty shortly after the half hour mark. This was a different side to the one we watched at Cougar Park last week though, having awarded a further try to The Rams over on the Main Stand side, Mr. Merrick then changed his mind on the intervention of a touch judge who was some 40 yards away. Don’t ask me why because I still don’t know. This was the moment when things started to go wrong though. Leigh substitute Jamie Acton got away with a couple of high tackles before Rams forward Matt Haggerty responded in kind and was immediately given a red card. It was an unnecessary move in my opinion, one that totally ruined what promised to be a good second half when ten minutes in the bin for both Haggerty and Acton at that point might have avoided some of the problems we saw later. Half time :- Rams 8 Centurions 0. Just how much that decision affected the game became clear in a matter of minutes with tries from Liam Kay and Ryan Brierley, the latter being converted by Martyn Ridyard saw the Centurions take the lead. I don’t know what was said at half time, but Dave Merrick then proceeded to add to his blunders by giving The Rams several dubious decisions as if that would make things right. Of course it didn’t, and though they defended manfully, Leigh added further tries from Tom Spencer (55 mins), Kurt Haggerty (60 mins), and a second for Ryan Brierley with some ten minutes left on the clock. All were converted by Ridyard, extending their lead to 8 – 28, but it was at this point that Mr. Merrick began to pay the price for his earlier decisions. Kurt Haggerty was the first to go to the bin, exactly why I’m not sure, though it seemed the referee simply lost patience with his every decision seeming to be questioned. The total was 12 apiece – players on the pitch that is – and The Rams struck back, Dale Morton scoring in the corner and narrowing the gap to 12 – 28. It was far too late to affect the final score of course, but it seemed that Mr. Merrick still wanted to leave his stamp on the game, dismissing Jamie Acton to the bin – a move he should have made in the first half. Final score :- Dewsbury Rams 12 Leigh Centurions 28. TEAMS:- Rams :- Louis Sherrif; Dale Morton; Kieran Hyde; Shane Grady; Greg Scott; Jordan Grayston; Anthony Thackeray; Makali Aizue; Wayne Godwin; Ewan Dowes; Rob Spicer; Scott Hale; Josh Tonks. Subs :- Ryan Hepworth; Tommy Gallagher; Matthew Haggerty; Callan Becket. Centurions :- Tom Armstrong; Cameron Pitman; Jake Emmitt; Robert Beswick; Sam Hopkins; Martyn Ridyard; Ryan Brierley; Tom Spencer; Kurt Haggerty; Tommy Goulden; Greg McNally; Liam Kay; Adam Higson. Subs :- Sam Barlow; Oliver Wilkes; Sean Penkywicz; Jamie Acton. Referee :- Dave Merrick. Attendance :- 1,193 Rams Man of the Match :- Jordan Grayston.
Posted on: Mon, 12 May 2014 19:28:11 +0000
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