Colne and Nelson travelled across to Blackpool at the weekend - a team sitting a few spots higher in the league than the All Blacks.
The kick by Colne put the pack deep into the Blackpool half, where the home side started to work the forwards to get to the halfway mark, but a mistake gave Colne the put in at the scrum, and an excellent drive from the Colne pack set the platform for the backs to gain ground, back into the home half. But a few mistakes from Colne left them struggling to clear their lines. Great defence as always from this young side kept Blackpool at bay.
Colne pushed hard looking for a score, but some strange refereeing left the All Blacks pointless, but with only a few minutes to go, the Colne pack worked up field and some good ball retention and pick and drives saw them cross over, which was converted, giving Colne a 7-0 lead.
The second half had the All Blacks playing into the wind, and Blackpool were coming out fighting as always. Colne didn’t have enough of a cushion to let things slip, so tough defence was in order, and the team responded with some great covering tackles as Blackpool tried hard to get some points on the board.
With both packs fighting hard for ground, Colne had a slight edge as they moved into the home side’s 22, and again forward pressure created gaps for Colne to cross over again, though the conversion was missed.
Blackpool soon came back into the game and a mistake by Colne saw Blackpool’s scrum half dive on a loose ball to score.
In the dying minutes Colne made good ground using their forwards, and managed to get within sight of the Blackpool try line, and good picking and driving from the All Blacks saw them cross over for their third try of the game. The conversion was the last kick of the game, which sailed wide, leaving the score at 17-5.
Anybody wishing to play, either to get fit or try something new, can contact Ian on 07590818341, or visit {http://www.pitchero.com/clubs/colnenelsonrufc|www.pitchero.com/clubs/colnenelsonrufc} for details.