This Is Cheshire

Predictable Saints lose to lowly London

From the Guardian Series, first published Thursday 19th Aug 2004.

Saints 22

London Broncs 28

FORTRESS Knowsley Road was toppled for the first time this season as Saints slumped to their fourth defeat in five matches after another lacklustre and error-strewn attacking display.

Even the return of skipper Paul Sculthorpe, after a three-game absence with a leg injury, failed to inject some sparkle into a side seemingly bereft of ideas with the ball in hand.

How they are missing the suspended Sean Long, or going back even further, a creative half back like Tommy Martyn who can pose questions and conjure up options rather than simply working through the set and then predictably putting boot to ball on the sixth tackle.

Unfortunately, Saints' poor ball control and ill-discipline added to their woes as it rapidly turned into another one of 'those nights'.

Hard working London did not come up with anything special. They, or rather hat-trick hero Dennis Moran, simply exploited the scraps that were thrown at them.

No wonder coach Ian Millward looked bitterly disappointed afterwards.

He said: "We lost because of our errors, our poor completion rate and by being naive at times. We just did not have the ball because of our errors.

"Defensively, we got stuck into them but we gave penalties away at vital stages."

It had all looked so easy after only five minutes when Jason Hooper stormed on to Willie Talau's fine inside ball to touch down.

Moran snatched a quick brace of tries, poaching the first after reading Sculthorpe's mind with an interception and then skipping on to Rob Purdham's pass to add a second from 40 metres.

After a prolonged period of pressure, resulting from some well-placed grubbers, Wellens, who was again Saints' best player, crashed on to Keiron Cunningham's pass to touch down.

But stand off Paul Sykes' scything run cut a swathe through Saints' defence to put the visitors back in front before half-time.

Although Darren Albert cashed in on Saints' old boy John Kirkpatrick's spillage of Sculthorpe's precision cross-field bomb to cut the deficit to two points, it proved to be another false dawn.

But then frustration set in - on and off the park - with two Sykes penalties for high shots giving London a six-point cushion.

Sculthorpe's desperate grubber not only lacked an effective chase but it went straight into the grateful arms of Moran, who sped the full length of the field to touch down and effectively seal Saints' fate.

There was time for a late consolation when Chris Joynt magnificently off-loaded out of a tackle to send Talau waltzing in at the corner.

But it was not enough to lift the spirits of the dejected faithful among Saints' lowest league crowd of the season.

Saints: Wellens; Albert, Gilmour, Talau, Gardner; Hooper, Higham; Fozzard, Cunningham, Mason, Joynt, Wilkin, Sculthorpe. Subs: Stankevitch, Bennett, Bibey, Roby.

London: Wells; Greenwood, O'Halloran, Roy, Kirkpatrick; Sykes, Moran; Trindall, Highton, Stephenson, Retchless, Purdham, Dymock.

Attendance: 6,657

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