A West Country classic as Swindon St George start the Southern
Conference League season with a win over the Bristol-based All Golds.
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| All Golds working their way from their own line under early Swindon pressure |
“You won't find any rugby league
down there,” they warned me when I announced my relocation from Liverpool to Wiltshire.
Oh ye of little faith.
The massive expansion of amateur
rugby league across England and South Wales in the mid-2000s has certainly
waned, but community clubs still exist far and wide.
Among them is Swindon St George,
founded in 2007 by former players of an earlier club, Swindon Bulldogs.
On Saturday they opened their Southern Conference League season with a home game at NALGO Sports Centre, alternatively known as the Dragons’ Lair, against the Bristol-based All Golds – a proper South West derby.
* * *
I've quickly grown to love
Wiltshire, but I'm still getting used to how rural it is – all farmers' fields
and stinging nettles. Early on I chose Bristol as a means of escape when feeling
homesick for urban life.
Bristol is a wonderfully vibrant,
cosmopolitan city. There are dozens of friendly real ale pubs, excellent
museums, pleasant former dockland areas, city parks and a magnificent
cathedral. It flaunts a grandeur based on centuries-old prosperity, yet still
grapples with shameful legacy of the slave trade. It is – if you take my
meaning – an English version of Liverpool.
Swindon, by contrast, is one of
England's famously crap towns. This reputation is fully undeserved, but my only memories of
Swindon are two impromptu evening visits desperately trying to get home after
the train through Pewsey was cancelled – a situation that wouldn’t endear you
to anywhere.
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| Brewery sign at The Great Western Hotel, opposite Swindon train station |
For all that though, county pride
has to win out, and on Saturday – raise the Great Bustard flag, salute the
White Horse, and down a pint of Arkells – I was supporting Swindon.
* * *
As befits a derby (of sorts)
there was a fair bit of needle in the opening exchanges – though stoppages were
an opportunity to check on the cricket match between Swindon NALGO and Purton
taking place on the adjacent pitch.
Stoppages there were aplenty. The
Southern Conference League is on paper the same level of rugby league as the
National Conference League (that is, Tier 4), but it’s fair to say that the NCL
sides up the Cumbrian coast and along the M62 corridor are a good distance
ahead in terms of quality.
A good number of players were
clearly of a rugby union background. Early in the game a Swindon man, having
won a penalty, placed the ball on the floor, kicked at it, then picked it up again.
The referee stopped play. “Just tap it mate,” he explained in a broad
Lancashire accent.
The union influence was most
clearly seen in the tendency to kick early in the tackle count. At one point in the
first half – on a zero tackle no less – Swindon hacked the ball ahead for no
good reason, spurning at best useful field position, at worst a half-decent
attacking chance.
* * *
Not that an early kick was always
a bad option. Mid-way through the second half an astute kick from centre-field towards the right wing was gathered beautifully by (I think) Matthew
Huggins who scored beneath the posts.
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| Swindon on the attack in the second half |
By that time Swindon were in the
ascendancy. The All Golds – looking stronger and better organised – had led 8-4
mid-way through the first half, but regretted a lack of defensive steel when
the home side scored beneath the posts right on half time to take a 10-8 lead
in at the break.
Swindon were clearly the better
side for most of the second period, though they lacked the ability to kill off
the game. Having led 24-8, two Bristol tries reduced the score to 24-18. Fortunately
though the home side held out through a tense final few moments.
This was a full-blooded,
genuinely gripping encounter between two highly committed sides. Hopefully I’ll
be enjoying more SCL rugby throughout the summer.
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