Oswestry 43
Essington 3
OSWESTRY remain top of the table after an emphatic home win against Essington.
Oswestry were slow off the mark and despite dominating possession the home side had to wait until five minutes before the break to open the scoring with Craig Howell crossing and Iwan Ellis converting.
Almost immediately from the restart Oswestry came back at Essington with a Tom Hill charge creating a gap before passing to Craig Howell who crossed for a second try, again converted by Ellis.
Essington reduced the arrears with a penalty before the break.
Action from Oswestry's win over Essington. Picture by Nick Evans-Jones.
Despite a frustrating half, coach Jordan Davies and captain Gaz Ellis rallied their troops at the break and pressed the need to maintain momentum.
The second-half kicked off with Oswestry charging into the Essington half as they started to throw the ball around and play some attractive rugby.
Such action led to the ball going to Connor Bishop who was too fast to be caught and ran 35 yards down the wing to score.
Action from Oswestry's win over Essington. Picture by Nick Evans-Jones.
Oswestry were now clicking through the gears and almost from the restart were back in the visitors half and Jedd Corbett charged through to score and secure a bonus point.
Bishop outpaced his pursuers to add a fifth try soon after with the conversion from Ellis extending their lead to 31 points.
Jack Charmley came on to add to the dominance of the pack and Ed Roberts returning from injury on the wing.
Action from Oswestry's win over Essington. Picture by Nick Evans-Jones.
The scrums were still going Oswestry’s way but they suffered an injury and the referee allowed the scrums to become uncontested.
Oswestry continued to tot up the tries with Rory Kershaw crossing and Ellis converting before the rout was competed by Ed Roberts for his second try in as many appearances for the club.
The sin binning of Andrew Smith failed to dampen the home side’s celebrations as the club opened a seven point gap at the top of the table ahead of this weekend’s trip to Market Drayton.
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