A tentative start for both sides passed without incident, other than a missed long range penalty from Manchester and a successful close range penalty for Anselmians to open the scoring at 0-3.

In fact the game only really started after 20 minutes when debutant Larry Ncube picked up the ball on half way. Showing a tremendous turn of pace, both the pursuing defenders and the support runners found themselves outpaced as he raced down the right touchline. He then thoughtfully trotted towards the posts to make it a simple conversion for Ian Jinks (7-3).

Anselmians responded quickly after some poor handling gifted an attacking scrum which was compounded by inadequate blindside cover. The resulting converted try edged the visitors back in front at 7-10 with quarter of an hour to play.

Thankfully Manchester responded by reverting to type, and some exciting back play saw Anselmians defence becoming stretched. When the backs were supplemented by the excellent Mikey Williams, the pressure was converted into points as he forced the ball over the line to switch the lead once again to 14-10.

Manchester remained adventurous but it was their defence that was tested for the last few minutes of the half once Anselmians had gained some decent territory. Some overly desperate defending from Ncube saw yellow and the attack continued with another change in lead looking likely. A fortuitous escape when an attacker was adjudged to be holding on saw Manchester out of their 22 and nursing a slender half time lead.

The make up of Manchester’s match day squad meant that when Ben Jenkins failed to make the restart, Luke Tyrrell had to move from the pack to the wing. The switch was seamless and a try from Doug Day resulted after Brian Ndlovu capitalised on Anselmians rapidly retreating scrum. At last there was some daylight between the teams at 19-10.

It now looked as if Manchester would finally take control but the game remained frustratingly stop-start as final passes didn’t go to hand. A soft breakaway try was conceded when Manchester were in attack so that the final quarter was reached with Manchester just two points ahead. It certainly didn’t feel a tight game to watch but a glance at the 19-17 scoreboard undermined any confidence about the game’s outcome.

Manchester’s lineout was now working well and a training paddock moved perfectly as the ball was cleanly caught and dropped into the path of Ndlovu approaching at speed for the bonus point try. Another Ian Jinks conversion made it 26-17 with fifteen to play.

Again a lack of control, fortunately at the right end of the field, nearly saw Manchester caught out as they turned attack into defence! Fortunately the speed merchants Tyrrell and Ndlovu were able to recover the situation but Anselmians refused to lie down, chasing a losing bonus point at the very least.

Any hope of that disappeared as the game began to break up allowing Dafydd Evans to seize on a loose ball, get the ball out to full back Rob Chance who pinned his ears back from some 40 metres out to effectively end proceedings at 33-17 as the 80 minutes of normal time approached.

A short kick off was heavily punished when it was cleanly caught by James Brodie who proceeded to run through the opposition and into their 22. Sam Davis was more alert than the opposition’s defence and stayed on Brodie’s shoulder to benefit from the pass inside to make the scoreline more reflective of the match itself at 40-17.

Anselmians had the last word however as they too started to throw the ball around, creating a massive overlap for the consolation try and conversion to close the scoring at 40-24.