Saints Slay Sedgley Park
By Stockers
January 27 2008
Well, that was fun! Saints were rampant as they put their Northern visitors to the sword, running in 14 tries in a massive team performance. Saints’ wingers collected 9 tries between them but every man played his part in what must have been Park’s most humbling defeat.
Northampton Saints v Sedgley Park.
National Division 1. Round 20, 26 January 2008
Result: Northampton Saints 96, Sedgeley Park 3.
Saints Slay Sedgley Park
By Jonathan Stockham from Franklins Gardens.
Well, that was fun! Saints were rampant as they put their Northern visitors to the sword, running in 14 tries in a massive team performance. Saints' wingers collected 9 tries between them but every man played his part in what must have been Park's most humbling defeat.
In their matches since Christmas, Saints have clearly stepped up the pace and anyone who saw the games at Pirates and Plymouth will surely agree that an ever closer team are now putting together victories as varied as the conditions in which they have been played. Yesterday, on Piggy's Perfect Patch, Saints had the ideal surface and weather to play the fast running game they love.
I shalln't list every try in detail, as I have to be at work on Monday but there were some absolute gems after Saints had showed their good manners and allowed the visitors an early 3 points lead after a penalty after 2 minutes. The miscreant was Darren Fox who was not properly bound at a scrum and ref Nick Williams, who controlled the match better than most I have seen recently, was not happy with the Saints back row for much of the first half, talking to Bruce several times about naughtiness in the tackle area (Ed: are you sure you want to say that Stockers?).
Saints opened their account soon afterwards with a sublime piece of individual skill from Chris Ashton. Saints had recovered the ball after a scrum to Park and the ball was shipped to Ashton on the right wing. He chipped over the first up defender and the ball timed its bounce perfectly as Chris arrived at speed to collect and thunder in under the posts. The ref was so impressed that he did a little somersault on his way to the try line! Bruce Reihana was nominated kicker and duly popped over the conversion.
Saints attacked again from inside their own half. Carlos Spencer, continuing the form of recent weeks in his preferred position of fly half, dummied his top half left and his bottom half right to burst through the Park defence and send a wonderfully timed pass to Bruce for a great try, to which he added the extras. 14-3 after 15 minutes.
We then nearly had the try of the season when Carlos spotted none other than prop Soane Tonga'uhia lurking on the right wing and fired over a kick. Soane nearly got his finger tips to the ball but sadly we will never know whether he would have run the ball in from 30 metres! Saints quickly won the ball back, Soane barged through gaps and the ball went through several hands for Digger to collect his first try on the left.
Saints kept the scoreboard warm soon after when Fox charged up field almost to the try line but quick recycling put Carlos away for Saints bonus point try inside the half hour. As Bruce lined up the conversion, the ref asked his touch judges to keep an eye on the "state of mind" of the visitors as they reeled from the early onslaught. To be fair to Sedgeley Park, they never stopped trying and played rugby whenever they had possession. It must have been a difficult day for them.
At this point in my notes I wrote, "Props on the rampage." In a game strangely devoid of scrums, both Soane and Chicken had absolute stormers, transferring their energy from the set piece to the open field. Both stayed on for the entire match and must have had huge grins on their faces after the game as they pulled off their boots and shared the champagne awarded to Soane as Man of the Match.
After the bonus point had been secured, Saints had to put their defensive system to the test for the first time in the game after Park had taken a penalty kick to touch. They won the line out, went through two phases and them watched in despair as the ball sailed back over their heads as they turned the ball over and before you knew it, Ashton was chasing a kick upfield, narrowly missing the ball. Park returned to the attack in broken play but again the ball was turned over to Saints after Foxy won the ball on the ground with Park pinged for failing to release.
Saints decided as half time approached that they'd had enough defence practice and Ashton snaffled a loose ball, winning the sprint over 70 metres to touch down at the posts. He even had support, despite his speed, from the old man of the backs, Carlos Spencer who showed he's no slouch either!
40 minutes gone, 35-3 to Saints but with one more try to come from the restart as Saints worked Park right, then attacked left with the Carlos / Bruce double act putting the Saints' skipper in for another try to which he added the conversion and the ref's comment that he really needed his half time cuppa!
Half time, 42- 3 to Saints.
The tidal wave resumed soon after the break, as Park were left reeling. Saints ran in tries at will and Short , Starling and Ashton ( his third, celebrated with a forward roll) moved the scoreboard to 63-3 in only 5 minutes. Dynamic stuff and Carlos left the field to a big ovation to be saved for sterner challenges ahead and to be replaced by Steve Myler. Johnny Howard replaced Sharky Robinson.
The cohesion in Saints game came undone to a certain extent after the substitutions and Park managed to put the home team under pressure again. However, Saints' defensive organisation is becoming legendary and without the ball, the Jimmies actually moved upfield with a fine example of offensive defence as Park retreated towards their own goal line with the ball in hand! Eventually, they were penalised for not releasing and a quick tap penalty by Paul Diggin led to a try for the left winger and the first of three on the trot for the local boy. The second was 
a Soane assisted surge over the line after being half tackled and the third after strong counter attacking runs from Ashton and Reihana. At this point the terrace were suggesting the England selectors should take a look at young Mr Diggin!
Score? Oh yes, 82-3 after 73 minutes on the clock and my pre-match prediction in Smurf's Swindle of 96 points to Saints wasn't looking quite so daft!
By now, Park were dreading the restart kicks and again Saints scored as soon as they had the ball in hand. A clean catch by Shorty was retained and recycled, Howard broke blind and a brilliant support run by Ashton led to a fourth try for the winger. 89-3 and I must be in the money! Only 7 points and 5 minutes to go.
Saints obliged with Digger's fifth try from a Saints scrum and Bruce added the extra 2 points to bring the match to an end at 96-3. Not exactly 95 but as close as you can get.
So, a storming victory for the Division 1 leaders who looked a vastly superior outfit to the visitors. Did it tells us much, other than the gulf between the top and lower
echelons of ND1? Well, one thing is for certain, life won't be this easy in the Premiership and against better ND1 sides but if the form, rugby skills and team spirit on display yesterday is any sort of guide, there is much hope for the remaining third of this season and the future in the Premiership.
Teams:
Northampton Saints :
Reihana (capt); Ashton, Starling, Downey, Diggin; Spencer (rep Myler), Robinson (rep Howard); Tonga'uiha, Hartley (rep Gray), Budgen, Short, Hoy, Easter, Fox, Hopley (rep Tupai).
Sedgley Park :
Nutt (rep Riley); Hall (rep Van Deventer), Craig, Burrell, Briers; Jones, Albinson; Gazzola (rep Livesey), Roddam (rep Keys), Du Plessis, Norris (rep Townson ), Crous (rep Fourie), Newton, Ponton (capt), Skurr.
Photos courtesy Big Rich
You say 96, then later 95. It was actually 92...
Photo Gallery
"He chipped over the first up defender and the ball timed its bounce perfectly as Chris arrived at speed to collect and thunder in under the posts."
I have to say I thought Mr Ashton acually altered his run slightly to get the timing right. Absolute cracker of a try!
so are there under 16's 