History Repeats Itself...

The visitors were out of the blocks quickly and pinned Manchester into their own 22, resulting in an early straightforward penalty. Although the kick was missed, the follow up meant that the rearguard action had to be maintained. Finally Manchester managed to escape but the hard work was immediately undone when a quick throw in caught the home side napping and a deserved score was made (0-5).

At least that allowed Manchester to escape their half but a lost scrum saw LSH grab the territory back and a penalty kick to touch soon saw that it was 22 metre territory. From this self-inflicted field position, the opposition’s forwards secured lineout possession and drove over to open a ten point gap after fifteen minutes of pressure.

When Manchester returned to the visitors’ half, a penalty was gratefully accepted to get on the scoreboard so that it was 3-10 at the end of the first quarter when in reality it could have been far worse.

The second quarter was far better for the home side with opportunities created but the ball was frustratingly spilt as it was moved wide looking for a defensive gap. LSH were now being allowed fewer attacking forays but these were similarly wasted as the game began untidy and the rain came down, so that the break was reached at 3-10.

Manchester started the second half with clear intent and an early Doug Day penalty narrowed the deficit to 6-10 with the game now very even. A seemingly harsh yellow card for an adjudged high tackle by Karl Higginson threatened to slow Manchester’s momentum but a long penalty by Day served to eat up a couple of minutes and also close to within a point (9-10).

With Higginson now back on, an ambitious penalty was attempted by Day which fell agonisingly short but meant that Manchester were once again camped in the opposition’s 22. The LSH defence held firm but not without conceding yet another penalty so that Manchester led on the hour for the first time (12-10).

There was some confusion at the refereeing of the breakdowns which gifted the lead back to the visitors at 12-13 and an exciting last quarter of an hour lay in store. With both defences now looking firm, it took a crossfield kick to create an unexpected but easy opportunity for the LSH right wing to grab a crucial try and make it 12-18 with less than ten minutes to play.

The game was certainly not beyond Manchester however who returned to the opposite end where they spent the remainder of the game. The opportunities still presented themselves but none were taken, with a crucial lack of control in attack to blame as much as the determined defence. The game finished with the hosts battering the line until a final knock on resulted in a defensive scrum and the ball was kicked behind the goal to end proceedings.

So, a losing bonus point in the last two home games against the top two teams – it is a confirmation of Manchester’s ability that a consistent 80 minutes would likely have yielded the match points against both league pacesetters.