Chesterfield Panthers vs Bakewell Mannerians

On a gloriously sunny afternoon, Chesterfield hosted promotion favourites Bakewell in a local clash which was always going to be physical, after the previous meeting where Bakewell ran away with the result, Panthers were bound to be out for a better showing.
From the kick off Panthers looked up for it chasing the restart with everything, Jake Blair managing to get a hand to it and Connor Hayes securing the ball but a good tackle unfortunately dislodging it from his grasp.

After having RFU coach Garry Rudkin putting on a scrummaging session Thursday, Panthers went into the first scrum with renewed vigour after a few pointers from the man. This really showed with the front row of Lee Laughton, Tom Marriott and Lee Whitmore applying real pressure on the Bakewell pack. Unfortunately this is where the Mannerians showed their quality, playing from a retreating scrum they managed to put a couple of phases together and then swing the ball wide for their electric winger to go in at the corner.
During these phases, Liam Chappell popped his shoulder desperately trying to make the cover tackle and Tom Mee was brought on to replace him.

Under the posts, captain Rich Keeling gave encouraging words and reminded the team that games like this are why we play rugby.
Captain's words of wisdom seemed to do the trick with the Panthers seemingly upping a gear, strong runs from Alex Hughes, Ben Curly and Tom Arnold keeping Bakewell going backwards.
Another injury to substitute Tom Mee led to another substitution with Ryan Hanes replacing him.
With Panthers really dominating the possession at this point and the phases being strung together, being directed by fly-half Adam Pedley, Panthers were playing some fine rugby.

Another strong run from Ben Curly led to a penalty 35m out, a close effort by Adam Pedley just crept wide of the posts.
The next 10 minutes Chesterfield really piled on the pressure, surprising the Bakewell team with the quality of rugby being played, carry after carry from Lee Laughton and the Panthers pack led to another penalty 30m out. Spotting the Bakewell backline had turned their backs, quick thinking and a lightning break from Jordan Grayson led to the scrum half going in at the corner.
Conversion missed by Pedley.

The 1st half went much of the same way with Chesterfield dominating possession and when Bakewell got the ball they kicked to the back three of Jake Blair, Guy Bassett and Joe Dickinson who ran back with interest, with the latter in exceptional running form.
The last play of the 1st half Bakewell again showed their class with a break away try from a Panthers dropped ball.

Half time Panthers 5-10 Bakewell.

The break saw a talk from coach Mark Blair full of encouraging words and pleading not to drop the tempo. Substitute Ryan Hanes was taken off through injury and replaced with Josh Hardy, the luck really not being with the Panthers squad!
The second half kicked off and with the heat taking its toll on a Panthers squad where much of the team hasn't played much rugby this season, Bakewell started to show us why they are chasing promotion.
As much as the Chesterfield team tried, and they did, there was never a back step taken and with good defence from the Panthers centre partnership of Tom Arnold and Chris Cooper, they just couldn't match Bakewell's fitness and intensity.
Bakewell really showed the class of a team that has played for years at a higher level scoring regular tries in the second half, Panthers not being helped by a few decisions and a yellow card to inside centre Tom Arnold.

Final score Chesterfield Panthers 5-62 Bakewell Mannerians.

Although the result is certainly not flattering, the Panthers' first half performance was fantastic and proved they have the rugby ability if not the fitness. By no means are they close to the finished article but improving every week will eventually get the young squad into the position they want and need to be.

After the game coach Mark Blair said "the result wasn't what we wanted, we go into every game wanting to win no matter who the opposition. Saying that, I thought our 1st half play was top drawer, if we can keep that up for 80 minutes we'll be a team. We've certainly got things to take away and work on but I saw enough today to show me and the coaching team that we've got 100% commitment and with that we can improve the team, absolutely no doubt."
We'd like to use this opportunity to wish Bakewell good luck in their promotion push and for next season.