An early penalty saw Doug Day on the scoreboard (3-0) but by and large Manchester played a patient first quarter. The try finally came when Rob Chance exploited a gap and found himself behind the defensive line. A kick down the left touchline was well weighted and the score moved up to 8-0.

Gradually Manchester started to get the territory to go with the possession but a couple of opportunities went begging from good positions. Any attacks from the visitors were quickly neutralised by a disciplined defence and from such an attack, Manchester were able to counter. A knock on advantage was allowed and the ball was taken diagonally by James Collinson into the WP 22. As Rob Chance converged on the break from the opposite flank there was little chance of the defence recovering as he took the ball and dabbed down. Day converted to take a healthy looking 15-0 lead to the interval.

The visitors decided to change kit at half time for some reason but this failed to confuse the hosts who attacked with determination. Dafydd Evans almost broke through from the restart but was held up and the scene was set for the next 40 minutes. The Winnington Park scrum was wrecked and with the pack in retreat, Sam Davis picked the ball up, passing to Connor McKinnon-Stevenson to carry it over for a forwards’ try and a 22-0 lead.

Manchester’s set pieces were operating very smoothly now and from this platform the backs were doing some damage. Luke Tyrrell secured the bonus point try as he kicked up his legs and flicked the defence away to take the score to 29-0 with half an hour to play.

The home side were now in total control, on the pitch and on the scoreboard this week, so that there was no need to take the points and penalties were kicked for territory. From one such lineout, Tom Fantom was used as the weapon, the ball dropped into his path, and an unstoppable run to the posts brought the score up to 36-0 entering the final quarter.

A defiant rally to the credit of the visitors then saw the first and second loss of discipline by Manchester in what had been a very well controlled game. Two players yellow carded in quick succession delivered an opportunity for Winnington Park to make some inroads into the scoreline against the 13 remaining. A knock on looked as if it had relieved the pressure but a lost scrum against the head resulted in a try conceded (36-7) and a wake up call to finish the job properly with ten minutes to go.

As Manchester’s miscreants returned to the pitch, normal service was resumed but with the sting taken out of the game, a spark was needed to send the home support back to the bar happy. This was provided by Day on the occasion of his 100th 1st XV appearance with an impressive solo try to round things off. From a loose ball just in his own half, a path was threaded through the defence for a score in the corner, just to make the conversion difficult for himself. It was difficult for sure but it was only the post that denied the extras to make the final score 41-7, fairly reflecting a particularly strong team performance.