Injuries prove costly as Moor slip to first defeat of season at West Bowling

Dewsbury Moor were brought back down to earth as they suffered a 44-26 defeat away to a keen and spirited West Bowling side in National Conference Division Three last Saturday.
James Samme scored a try for Dewsbury Moor but later went off injured.James Samme scored a try for Dewsbury Moor but later went off injured.
James Samme scored a try for Dewsbury Moor but later went off injured.

Moor were always going to be under the cosh with four players unavailable through injury.

Moor had began the season with back-to-back league wins but their rhythm was further disrupted after just a minute when Pete Robinson left the field injured and the odds were starting to stack up against the visitors.

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The game started fairly evenly with both teams matching each other in the early exchanges but West Bowling took the lead after 10 minutes with a try by the posts.

Moor seemed rattled as it was the first time they had been behind this season and Bowling took advantage to score again and stretch their lead to 10-0 after 15 minutes

Moor settled and hit back to level the scores with tries from James Delaney and James Samme, one of which was converted by Bradley Foster.

However, the fightback came at a cost with Moor losing James Eatherley through injury deep into the first half.

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Bowling snatched another try and went into half-time with a 16-10 lead.

The next 20 minutes saw Moor capitulate as they suffered a third blow when James Samme left the field with a serious hamstring injury and they were running light on substitutes and seemed to tire as Bowling took advantage to extend their advantage to 44-10 after an hour.

Moor staged a brief comeback with tries from Aiden Ineson, Tom Kaye and Elliot Sheard, with Ineson and Foster adding conversions but the game was already over as a contest.

Moor head coach Allan Samme said: “I’m disappointed and the lads know how I feel.

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“We were missing key individuals and lost three more key players during the game but our squad should have been strong enough and unfortunately it wasn’t.

“All credit to West Bowling they were a big unit and play their small pitch well but they wanted it more than us.

“This is a really tough league and definitely on a par with the division above as the relegated teams are finding out.

“If you are not at your best then you will lose and everyone in the league is capable of beating anyone on their day.

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“Bowling were up for it and we were way below the standard we have set ourselves. Consistency will win this league this year and after Saturday its clear we haven’t found that yet.”

Dewsbury Moor will look to bounce back when they host Waterhead Warriors this Saturday (ko 2.30pm).