Manchester suffered an early setback when a speculative crossfield kick was watched rather than dealt with. A dribble to the line for the touchdown made it an early 0-5 lead for the visitors.

As is the norm, Manchester then settled, although the equalising try was a little fortuitous when an alert Rob Chance intercepted to score under the posts, converted by Seb Lingwood to 7-5.

The game became restricted to the middle of the pitch as a number of turn overs deprived either side the chance of any attacking territory. A quickly taken free kick however saw the visitors race into the 22 where they did well to keep the momentum, working the ball back from the far corner and infield to score centrally and take a 7-12 lead into the second quarter.

The game was a poor spectacle at this point, livened up by a Luke Tyrrell burst that faltered when the final pass was spilled with the line in sight. Although the resulting defensive scrum was won by New Brighton, the Manchester back row denied any chance of them clearing. When an easy penalty was awarded, Lingwood calmly slotted the points (10-12), only for the five point gap to be restored with a similarly straightforward penalty for the opposition a few minutes later. The half closed with the visitors edging the scoreboard at 10-15 although Manchester had enjoyed more of the possession.

Manchester started the second period aggressively, rejecting a kickable penalty to batter the New Brighton line. It looked as if the effort was going to go unrewarded when a knock on meant a defensive scrum and a chance to clear. The Manchester pack saw this as an opportunity however, brilliantly winning the scrum against the head, so that Tyrrell was able to squeeze over and level at 15-all with just five minutes played.

There was no shortage of endeavour with the teams deadlocked but gaps were hard to come by now. Rob Chance was alert to a slow response from New Brighton’s defence when a penalty was awarded midfield with a kick to touch the obvious option. Taking the ball on himself however, a kick through looked a good choice, leaving the defender little choice but to help the ball into touch. Unfortunately, the touch judge was unsighted and the lineout was awarded to New Brighton who were finally able to clear. It has to be said that the Manchester lineout struggled throughout against a particularly effective New Brighton set piece, and this frequently made it difficult to keep hard earned possession and territory.

As the hour mark approached, the game was becoming fractious with such a close score, not helped by both teams’ frustrations with their own handling errors! With ten to go, New Brighton began to sustain some pressure but were impatient so that a kick through ran too far forward, allowing Manchester the chance to clear their lines with a 22 dropout. New Brighton were soon back however, and when the same kick was attempted again, an awkward bounce took it away from the apparent safety of the covering defenders. With barely five minutes left, the conversion saw Manchester with just a consolation losing point looking likely at 15-22.

Showing a lot of character, the restart was chased hard by the home XV however and New Brighton were forced into an unwelcome late rearguard action. The aggression was deservedly rewarded with a Harry Noar try at the end of normal time, nicely converted by Lingwood to level the score at 22-22.

An injury break delayed the end of the proceedings but even though the late try had given Manchester the final say, a salvaged draw still seemed a disappointment with the game being chased from that slow start to the final whistle.