Hillmen march on to big win

North One West: Glossop 45-24 Douglas (IOM)

Glossop built on last weeks win away at Wilmslow when they dispatched their Manx visitors on Saturday with an impressive second half blitz. 

The visitors have had a disjointed start to the season, with Covid related travel issues meaning that they had played only three of their five scheduled games, and were yet to play a game on home turf. This disruption wasn’t evident from the kick off, however, as they came flying out of the blocks and played some of the best rugby that Glossop have come up against this season. 

Almost immediately Glossop had an opportunity to get on the scoreboard, but Rob Sonczak’s penalty attempt missed narrowly. 

For the next fifteen minutes it was one way traffic, as the Douglas team retained possession well and made constant inroads into the Glossop defence, which was unusually passive. They were rewarded with a converted try, and soon after were able to extend their lead to 0-10 via a well struck penalty. 

Glossop shook off their early lethargy and were able to take play into the Douglas half where, from a midfield scrum, the ball was shipped to the left wing and then back right. Lewis Winterbottom skipped around the outside of the defence and fed Rob Sonczak who in turn offloaded to brother Chris for a try in the right corner which was unconverted but Glossop were back in the game. 

For the remainder of the first half Glossop were able to gain more possession and territory. Their line out had malfunctioned early in the game but a few tweaks had it working well towards the end of the half, along with the scrum which had the Douglas team on the back foot all afternoon. 

On the half hour mark, with The Hillmen pressing deep in Douglas territory and probing for a score to take the lead, the pendulum well and truly swung back in Douglas’ favour when the ball was spilt close to the try line and the Manx speedy left winger raced away the length of the field for a converted try against the run of play (5-17). 

There was just enough time before the interval for Glossop to register a score to reduce the deficit. From a set scrum, the impressive Max Horsfall joined the backline from his left wing position and carried well before offloading to centre Matt Sonczak, who outpaced the covering defence to scamper over next to the posts. Rob Sonczak was on target with the conversion, meaning Douglas carried a 12-17 lead into the second half. 

The half time team talk given to the Glossop squad worked wonders and in an impressive second half they put the visitors to the sword, scoring thirty three unanswered points, before Douglas grabbed a consolation try in the final minute of the game. 

The returning Adam Mallinson scored first in the second half with a quickly taken tap penalty close to the Douglas line, and was able to twist and turn his way over the line.  

Matt Sonczak secured Glossop’s bonus point when he went over for his second soon after, when he brilliantly latched onto a box kick from scrum half Jonny Tennant. 

Within a few minutes, Sonczak completed an impressive hat trick when he scythed through the Douglas defence after the Glossop pack had stolen a line out in the Douglas half. Brother Rob converted the try to give Glossop a 31-17 lead heading into the final quarter. 

With Douglas now firmly on the back foot, the Glossop backline had their tails up and we’re playing with confidence. They launched an attack from a scrum in the Douglas ‘22. 

Winterbottom again found space outside the Douglas centres and released Rob Sonczak who shifted the ball to Max Horsfall, and the winger rode a couple of tackles on his way to well deserved try. Rob Sonczak again converted. 

Not content with one try, Horsfall bagged his second in the final five minutes following some great build up play. Good support play from both forwards and backs took the ball deep into Douglas territory, before fly half Alex Hughes unlocked the defence with a neat pass to Damien Chabas. Chabas found Horsfall in support and the winger strode away from three would be tacklers to complete the Glossop try tally. Rob Sonczak again knocked over the conversion and Glossop were out of sight at 45-17. 

In the final minute, as the home team attempted to attack out of their own half from a stolen line out, the ball was spilt and was snapped up by the visiting full back who raced away to score under the posts, giving the Manx men the final word in what was an entertaining encounter. 

The win leaves Glossop in fifth spot in North 1 West after six games. Next week the Hillmen face a tough trip to Lancaster to face Vale Of Lune RUFC.