By Stefan
November 13 2005

WINGER Gareth Morley and scrumhalf Alex Drage both bagged a brace of tries as the A-team surged to an emphatic 48-10 win over Halifax to go top of the NCA North Merit Table on superior points difference.

Coach Craig West will be hoping for more of the same on Thursday evening when his side face their rivals, Doncaster, in the top of the table clash at Castle Park.

The performance was not faultless however, the A-team will have to work on various aspects of their game during training next week - notably their passing and tackling - before Thursday's clash if they are to get a result.

It was clear from the very first scrum that the home side had no answer to the power of the visiting pack who put in a dominant display destroying the Halifax scrum and overwhelming them with their driving mauls.

Halifax were having serious difficulty in getting their hands on the ball until injuries to Halifax forwards on the twenty minute mark forced the Referee to call for uncontested scrums. The much relieved home side were then able to enjoy some possession and mounted attacks of their own.

First half tries from Gareth Morley (2), Alex Drage, Joe Earp with two conversions from Charlie Spon-Smith made the score 24-0 at half time.

Halifax came out in the second half looking determined to respond to their visitors and claimed an early try making the score 24-5.

However, the Titans stepped up their efforts and the free-scoring continued with further tries from Alex Drage, Nathan Pike, Lodewyk Strauss and a beauty from new boy, eighteen-year old Tom Outrim, with two further conversions by Spon-Smith taking the score to 48-5 before the close.

In the final action of the day, the ball was kicked into the Titans' in-goal area and touched down to give the home fans the final cheer at the close.

Earth Titans:
15 Tom Outrim; 14 Joe Earp, 13 Charlie Hands (Charlie Spon-Smith 49), 12 Lodewyk Strauss (Gareth Morley 40), 11 Gareth Morley (Dave Bolton 40); 10 Charlie Spon-Smith (Lodewyk Strauss 40), 9 Alex Drage; 1 Jamie Kilbane, 2 Adam Hopcroft (Jonny Larby 40), 3 Sam Walsh (Adam Hopcroft 40), 4 Nathan Pike, 5 Rob Walton, 6 Tim Maslanyk, 7 Greg Burnham (Nick Barrett 40), 8 Richard Sawyer.

Titans Scorers:
Charlie Spon-Smith (4C), Gareth Morley (2T), Alex Drage (2T), Joe Earp (T), Nathan Pike (T), Lodewyk Strauss (T), Tom Outrim (T).