by David Ballheimer
London Broncos (22) 36, Dewsbury Rams (0) 12
London Broncos finally got their first win of the season with a thumping 36–12 defeat of Dewsbury Rams.
The Broncos could not have made a better start. Aided by a penalty and a scrum, we got to within 20 metres of the line. Brad Foster made a powerful, then a tackle later he was on the end of a short pass to crash over.
In the tenth minute the lead was doubled. Chisholm broke into space, chipped the ball over Phoenix Laulu-Togaga’e, gathered it on the bounce and crossed beside the posts.
And things got even better in the 14th minute after a a 40–20 from Chisholm set up great field position and Calum Gahan spotted a hole in the defensive line to go between the uprights.
Having raced into an 18–0 lead, Broncos showed their defensive qualities by stopping three Dewsbury possessions in the red zone. Twice players were held up in goal and two more were brought to ground in sniffing distance of the whitewash.
Just before the half-hour mark, Broncos moved downfield well and a beautiful delayed pass from Chishom allowed Sitiveni Mockeidreke to burst over, Iliess Macani slowing down enough to ensure there was no interference.
Dewsbury finally got it together early in the second half when they scored their first try. Wellington Albert had just been sin-binned for a high tackle when Paul Sykes, a London legend who first played for the Broncos in 2001, handled the ball three times in the move which ended with Ollie Greensmith scoring.
From their next possession, Dewsbury marched down the field and when Phoenix Laulu-Togaga’e burst into the line he found his way over the whitewash.
Dewsbury were playing with renewed vigour and enthusiasm. One seven-tackle set saw them go 78, but not the necessary 80.
However, a lost ball inside their 30 gave Dewsbury another set in good field position and they took full advantage of the short field to scoring a third try, Andy Gabriel touching down in the right corner. Sykes, however, given a third conversion from out wide, failed to improve the score.
The nerves, however were clearly jangling and a short goal-line drop-out put the Rams five metres out two tackles into the set. Broncos’ defence held out and Paul Ulberg gathered a kick from Jake Sweeting just in front of the goal-line.
With eight minutes remaining, Brad Graham was penalised for a high tackle ten metres from his own line and sin-binned. As he took his seat in the stand, Chisholm kicked the penalty goal.
A short kick-off didn’t work for Dewsbury and Broncos punished them ruthlessly. A clever dart from Dean Parata opened up the Rams defence and Lewis Bienik was in support to go under the crossbar giving Chisholm another easy conversion.
The game finished in much the way it began, Broncos pouring on pressure and scoring, Dewsbury unable to touch the ball. A grubber from Chisholm bounced perfectly for Bienik to outjump Laulu-Togaga’e and still have enough impetus to grab his second try in 90 seconds.
Chisholm’s conversion, at the end of a superb performance at half-back, gave him a personal total of 16 points.
Broncos: 31 Alex Walker, 2 Paul Ulberg, 1 Sitiveni Mockeidreke, 3 Jude Ferreira,
5 Iliess Macani, 6 Oli Leyland, 33 Dane Chisholm, 18 Ronny Palumbo, 14 Calum
Gahan, 10 Lewis Bienik, 11 Will Lovell, 13 Brad Foster, 9 Dean Parata.
Replacements: 4 Paulus Latu, 8 Wellington Albert, 15 Jordan Williams, 22 Rob Tuliatu
Try: Foster (5), Chisholm (10), Gahan (14), Mockeidreke (29), Bienik (75, 77)
Goal: Chisholm 6/7
Sin-bin: Albert (45, high tackle)
Rams: 27 Phoenix Laulu-Togaga’e, 2 Andy Gabriel, 21 Brad Graham, 18 Ollie Greensmith, 5 Lewis Carr, 40 Paul Sykes, 19 Jake Sweeting, 23 Jon Magrin, 9 Reiss Butterworth, 22 Kyle Trout, 3 Adam Ryder, 15 Keenen Tomlinson, 13 Michael Knowles. Replacements: 9 Jimmy Beckett, 10 Harry Kidd, 14 Dom Speakman, 29 Robson Stevens.
Try: Greensmith (46), Laulu Tongaga’e (49), Gabriel (57)
Goals: Sykes 0/3
Sin-bin: Graham (72, high tackle)
Referee: Jack Smith
Penalties awarded: 4–3
