LATCHFORD came out on top in an epic encounter against title rivals Dalton in a game that was in the balance until the closing minutes despite the 32-18 scoreline.
Albion started the strongest, and opened the scoring on five minutes, Matty Rudd putting Charlie McCurrie into space where he raced over from 15 metres, Rudd adding the extras.
The visitors responded on 15 minutes with a converted try of their own, and began to apply some real pressure upon the Albion line.
With Albion struggling to break our of their own half, they were guilty of overplaying and gifted Dalton the lead when a pass on the 30 yard line was intercepted by the opposition scrum half who had a free run to the line giving the visitors a 6-12 lead, which they held at the half time whistle.
As with the first half, the hosts struck first. With Dalton on the attack, Matty Rudd picked off a wayward pass and raced 50 metres. A quick play of the ball saw centre Ben Harper carry on the move by earning another 30 metres, just being hauled down short of the line. A quick play of the ball saw the ball fed to scrum half Matty Ellis, who dummied his way through a retreating defence to cross under the posts, Rudd converting.
Albion regained the lead shortly after. This time the ball was moved along the line at pace on the last tackle, allowing Harper the chance to use his strength to squeeze in at the corner.
At a critical stage of the game, the hosts had a period of ill discipline, allowing Dalton the opportunity to land three penalty goals in a 10-minute spell, and on 65 minutes the visitors held a slender lead of 16 – 18.
A tactical change from coaches Martyn Ellis and Dave Rudd, saw the returning Charlie McCurrie moved further out wide looking for space against the Dalton defence. The move paid dividends immediately when Rudd fed the ball out wide, allowing second rower McCurrie the chance to race 20 yards to score his second try of the afternoon.
With the hosts now in the ascendancy, they scored a quick fire try to take the game away from Dalton. McCurrie went on a rampaging run, and this time he returned the favour by feeding Rudd who outpaced the oncoming defence to score under the posts. His conversion put Latchford eight points ahead with seven minutes to play
With time running out Albion crossed again. Fittingly it was captain Danny Brown who capped off another impressive display by crashing over just to the left of the posts, Rudd’s conversion bringing the game to an end and securing a great victory for the hosts.
Coach Martyn Ellis was understandably delighted and added “ We showed fantastic character today against a very good side. In the first half we conceded seven goal line drop outs, but our defence was outstanding. Apart from a solo try, and an intercept, they could not break us down. The work rate from my forwards was outstanding, Jack Phillips in particular registered 47 tackles from the hooker position.
This hard work ultimately laid the platform for us to take control of the game at a critical time, and we fully deserved the victory. “
This Saturday sees another home game for Latchford when the host Bury Broncos, kick off 3pm.
Pictured is Albion man-of-the-match Matty Ellis, alongside head coach and father Martyn Ellis.
