Northwich were on the scoreboard with a converted try after two minutes as an efficient but hardly spectacular move across the backs was touched down in the corner (0-7). Manchester’s nerves were partially settled when their first attack narrowed the gap to 3-7 from a Doug Day penalty.

Manchester then set up camp outside the visitors’ 22 but the line was only troubled once but a knock on allowed that effort to be cleared. Northwich were playing with similar ambition and were happy to run the ball at Manchester rather than kick. However, errors in midfield from both sides were cancelling any real chances and the first half began to pass without a great deal of incident.

Manchester failed to gain any benefit from a penalty count which was heavily against Northwich with the infringements out of kicking range. When an opportunity did come along, it seemed as if the wrong option was called with a tap-and-go which inevitably went sidewards and ended up in touch. When another penalty was awarded soon after, Day maximised the distance and the forwards were offered a chance from a line out just five metres out. The throw was good and the catch and drive took Manchester into the lead at 8-7 with five minutes of the half to play.

Unfortunately the half was lost when a Northwich penalty resulted in a line out on the 22. The lesson from the first couple of minutes had not been learned and poor defensive cover allowed the ball to reach the right wing again for a second score in the corner. Another excellent conversion made it 8-14 at the turn round.

The gap was soon narrowed to three points (11-14) with another penalty from Day just outside the 22 but neither side had a grip of this game (nor the ball at times) and the last quarter was reached with the game in the balance. A couple of spilled passes served only to increase the tension but both sides were still willing to run the ball despite the game being so tight.

Parity was reached at 14-14 with just over ten minutes to go as a penalty for handling in the ruck was awarded as some sort of justice for an appeal for a dangerous tackle just moments earlier. As ‘next score wins’ seemed probable, Manchester were more likely to make the breakthrough if only because of their territorial advantage but determined defending held firm. Finally Manchester got their noses in front when Luke Tyrrell proved to be too much of a handful for the Northwich defence and a fourth Doug Day penalty made it 17-14 with five minutes to play. Northwich’s misery was compounded by a yellow card and finally it seemed that there was a decisive swing in favour of the hosts.

In fact, nerves should well and truly been settled when Day worked his way into the Northwich 22 with great support play by Ben Jenkins to his left who had created an overlap with the line in sight. The decison to hold onto the ball however not only lost the try opportunity but allowed Northwich to attack from deep.

The final couple of minutes were eventful to say the least as loose tackling allowed Northwich to set up a sprint for the Manchester line which yielded an attacking lineout with time up on the clock. Unbelievably the throw was not straight and the scrum option should have virtually closed out the game. Somehow possession was lost however and with Manchester without the ball on their own line, a painful lesson seemed likely. With the Northwich forwards set to pick up and drive the last few metres, a lightning quick steal by Tom Fantom turned over the last attack and a tense win was confirmed.

With the first win of the season in the bag, attention now moves to chasing that away win next week with a trip to Ruskin Park who sit just below Manchester in the league.