Borders Control…

A long trip and a bitterly cold day were perhaps good excuses for an untidy first quarter from Manchester. Progress was slow at first with kicks going astray, whether poorly executed to touch for territory, or straight into the opposition’s hands. Even at 0-0 however, it was clear that Manchester had the upper hand.

Sensing that, an easy three points was rejected in favour of a kick to touch. The lineout was good and the catch & drive effective so that Harry Noar was able to take the ball over the line for the first score, converted to 0-7 by Doug Day on 20 minutes.

Manchester continued to have the better of the game although Oswestry had the benefit of the breeze and knew their pitch well so that they were able to kick effectively when in danger. That option wasn’t there when Manchester kept the ball in hand which resulted in a series of penalties for offside being conceded. Manchester opted for a scrum from one such infringement in a central area. Matt Beasley released the ball well to Dean Hogg and Doug Day was on hand to touch down in the corner to make it 0-12 with half an hour played.

With any possible nerves now settled, Manchester proceeded to cut loose. The restart found its way to Karl Higginson who, with Tom Fantom in support, made a great break back into the host’s half. The backs caught up with their forwards just short of the line when Hogg had to wrestle the ball over for a try again converted by Day to 0-19.

Minutes later the basis for another try was again prepared by the forwards with a huge drive towards the line. When Day arrived on the scene at speed there was no stopping him as he sliced through the remaining defence for the bonus point try, neatly converted for a 0-26 lead with half time approaching.

The game was then effectively put to bed before the break at 0-31 with another Day try, again in the corner, as Manchester made a break down the right wing.

With the job done as far as Manchester were concerned but with pride to be salvaged by Oswestry, the second half was a much tighter affair. Oswestry came out fired up and the scores were clearly not going to mount at the rate they had done just before the break. It took a further ten minutes before the scoreboard was troubled again when Richard McCartney accelerated through a gap and then did the honours converting his own try (0-38).

Oswestry’s best phase of the game followed and kept the visitors pinned in their own half for long periods. To Manchester’s credit they switched well from being the team on the attack to the team forced to defend and held their line determinedly. It has to be said that Oswestry now looked the team more likely to score next despite their deficit.

Unfortunately for the home side however they were unable to make anything of their territorial advantage (and for ten minutes a numerical advantage following a yellow card), much to their frustration and to Manchester’s credit.

With play confined around the half way line, it was Manchester who increased the lead thanks to a great burst of speed from Hogg when he scooped up the ball just inside the Oswestry half. The groundwork quite literally was done by Calum Baines however who seemed to spend the afternoon playing in both the front row in the set piece and also as an extra back row forward in the loose! At 0-45 Oswestry will have felt a little hard done by after their hard work for the last half an hour.

The home side’s reward for their persistence was to come however, courtesy of a charged down clearance kick. The bounce of the ball from the charge down gave Manchester no chance to recover as the bounce, pick up and pass moved the ball left, away from the defence. The conversion closed the scoring at 7-45.

Manchester reacted well and tried to have the last word but it wasn’t to be. Their statement had been made in the first half, earning the targeted bonus point and win which took Manchester up to second in the league with the run in approaching.

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