7 October 2019
IPC v Kirkham Grammar
Game 5, hasn’t it come around quickly? Having had several days off from our last fixture it was the staff and supporters who had picked up the ailments which had plaqued some of the lads over the past week. Rested and ready to go, it was all hands on deck for the last fixture of the tour, seen as our biggest challenge to date.
Being hosted by Kirkby Lonsdale they had been hit by multiple injuries and other sporting commitments so their sporting head organised a fixture against Kirkham Grammar, a College renowned for their rugby. Knowing fore-well that we really had to be on our game and toil extremely hard to come away with the chocolates, everyone was keen to go.
Having travelled an hour to Kirkham and only getting 15 minutes to warm up in wet and cold conditions we were already feeling the pinch. Playing on a field which was extremely heavy under foot was quite different for our boys and made them work even harder in unfamiliar conditions. Told that they will have to tighten up their attack and be very direct and that getting off the line and sticking tackles were essential the boys ripped in.
Losing the battle for field position throughout the first half IPC had to work hard to keep Kirkham out and to make any headway up the field. Poor field position eventually took its toll with Kirkham running in one soft try and another before half time. However, IPC were always in the hunt and in one of the few times they were in the opposition quarter came away with a strong pic n drive try of their own. Having played well in the first half and coping well with the ‘gibber’ from Kirkham the boys went into the break 10 to 7 down but knowing they had more in them.
Asked to increase their line speed and aggression at the breakdown we went into the next half ready to empty the tank and have a real crack at the favoured Kirkham fifteen. Kirkham started well and scored a dubious try early but then had to dig deep as IPC pinned them in their own half for the majority of the second half. Having created several scoring opportunities the boys fell victim to lack of patience and fell short of the line on numerous occasions, finally going down 15 to 7.
While the boys may have been beaten on the score board and given the conditions, the coaching staff and team were very proud of the discipline, never say die attitude and the effort put in by the entire squad. In what was an extremely tough and spirited match, IPC stepped up to the plate and gave as good as they got – deserving of a well earned and passionate Iggy war cry.
Tries: Terrence Rooney
Conversions: Declan Marchioni
MVP’s: (3) Zac Thomson – (2) Kye Henderson – (1) Jayvan Scarff
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