Rams put up battling performance but beaten by Toulouse at FLAIR Stadium.
After a disappointing result against Doncaster, the Rams returned to FLAIR Stadium with a new Head Coach in Paul March and a tricky set of fixtures ahead of them in May. The day was also a special day for the club as the ‘Mike Stephenson MBE South Stand’ was officially unveiled by the great man himself.
The game didn’t get off to an ideal start for the home side when Maxime Stefani charged over from close range to give Toulouse an early lead, but the Rams answered straight back through Travis Corion who collected an Ollie Greensmith offload off the floor to score his first of the evening.
Toulouse continued to have plenty of pressure with Dewsbury defending well, that until Mathieu Jussaume finished off a flowing move under the posts.
Six points behind and defending their own goal line, the Rams got the break they needed with Travis Corion intercepting and running sixty metres up the field before being halted. With a great opportunity in front of the the Rams remained composed and with the Toulouse defence exposed, Corion went over for his second of the evening, showing brilliant strength to finish.
A Toulouse mistake then gave the Rams an attacking opportunity which Owen Restall duly took finishing off a lovely piece of play by Jacob Hookem.
After Dewsbury got their first penalty of the half on the hooter (and first of five in the game) Hookem kicked a drop goal from thirty metres out to give the Rams a nine point advantage at the break.
The first ten minutes of the second half didn’t quite go to plan as Toulouse managed to get themselves back in front by a point with two tries. Firstly, Stefani then scored his second after scooting from dummy half, followed shortly after by Olly Ashall-Bott who scored after cutting through the Rams defence.
The Rams weren’t going to give up though and a penalty from Calum Turner penalty put the home side back ahead, after the visitors were penalised for offside, a lead they were to keep until the sixty-fifth minute when Anthony Marion crossed to put Toulouse back in front.
With the penalty count rising against the Rams, the visitors superior fitness began to show in the last ten minutes when Jake Shorrocks and Damel Diakhate both crossed in the final ten minutes to give the scoreboard a slightly skewed look.
After the game, Head Coach Paul March said, “Effort wise I thought we were outstanding today, but I think we were on the end of a big penalty count against us today and that’s just taken a bit too much out of the boys and the game’s got away from us.
But I do think that the lads should be confident going into these next few games because we’ve just run a full-time side very close there.”
It’s Featherstone Rovers up next at FLAIR Stadium for the Rams on Sunday 19th May, with kick-off at 15:00.
Dewsbury Rams (21): Turner, Corion, Greensmith, Graham, Restall, Sykes, Hookem, Beckett, Davies, Morris, Billington, Garside, Collinson..
Interchanges: Dawson, Hird, J.Walker, D.Dixon, O’Connor (18th)
Tries: Corion (13′, 27′), Restall (34′)
Conversions: Turner (3/3)
Penalty Goal: Turner (51′)
Drop Goal: Hookem (40′)
Toulouse Olympique (38): Ashall-Bott, Marcon, Jussaume, Rennie, Ulberg, Rivett, Shorrocks, Belmas, Gahan, Mataafa Hansen, Peyroux, Stefani, Marion.
Interchanges: Roumanos, Diakhate, Pelissier, Brochon, Lima (18th)
Tries: Stefani (6′, 43′), Jussaume (21′), Ashall-Bott (45′), Marion (64′), Shorrocks (71′), Diakhate (76′)
Conversions: Shorrocks (5/7)
What was the attendance?