Tigers keep up pressure on table toppers

By MARK THOMPSON

Sedgley P ….26 S Leicester21

SEDGLEY Park started their New Year how they mean to go on, with a victory over South Leicester to keep them in the promotion hunt.

Two tries from Benjamin Black, as well as scores from Andrew Riley and Sam Lowthion helped the home side to victory

Had Rickie Aley not hit the posts with two penalties to add to his 11 points, the result might have been different, as Matthew Cooke and Luke Crampton added South Leicester’s tries.

The visitors fought well, but blind passes from both sides often caused turnovers in the opponents’ 22. Black drove over within three minutes to give Sedgley Park a good start, and they extended their lead ten minutes later when Riley dotted down.

But poor handling and poor discipline blighted the home side’s play, and after Aley converted a penalty for the visitors, Cooke got over for an unconverted try.

Robert Birtwell was sinbinned shortly before half-time, with Aley scoring the resulting penalty to make it 14-11 at the break.

The sides exchanged tries early in the second period through Lowthion and Crampton, before Black again drove over to extend the hosts’ lead, but Aley was on hand again to pull back the score with a penalty on the hour.

Despite the visitors probing for another score, Sedgley held firm for a deserved victory.