Barbarians 3rds put in Gutsy Performance against Linley

Squad: Mark, Tim, Ric, Big Phil, Miss Marple, Adrian, Dave, Ian, Chunky, Ant, Josh, Rob, Rodger, Rob

Perfect rugby conditions saw Manchester 3rds finally returning to league action this weekend. With only 5 ‘cry offs’ permitted during a season, it was imperative that the 3rds fielded a team to keep their hopes of staying in the league alive.

With 30 mins to kick off though, another poor turnout meant that the team sheet consisted of 12 names, including two who had been promised the infamous ‘go on, just give me 20 mins please mate’ from stand in skipper Richardson! However, with rumours rife that Chunky was running late due to a nail appointment and with fullback Ant taking time out from gelling his hair as most young backs do these days to put in a call to his ‘mate’ (Rob I think), an almost full team for a home fixture was actually looking possible!

In comparison, Linley had arrived at Grove Park early and were no doubt up for the game as they ran through an impressive pre-match warm up whilst the majority of the Manchester lads were still passing round the team muscle rub and dosing up on the WD 40 in the changing rooms!

Undoubtedly, things were looking daunting for the Red and Whites (actually it was the blue kit this week because it’s so now apparently – hint; can someone sort a regular 3rd team kit please….!!!). With Chunky and Rob still amiss, the Linley gaffer kindly agreed to loan two players and’ the Mancs’ were up to the dizzy heights of 14. Suddenly! word spread that Chunky had arrived and all breathed a sigh of relief as the young fella sprinted down to the pitch displaying his newly manicured nails. With his arrival; Manchester had a Barbarians style starting 15, consisting of Manchester, Linley and a few recently signed players from a club up the road……

And so, with 10 mins to kick off, Manchester finally started their warm up routine which consisted of a run around the 22 box amidst some creaking sounds from Seb Cole and Big Phil as the two stretched out for the first time this season. The pre-match tactical talk was brief, keep it tight, don’t get isolated, play simple rugby, get the basics right and the first try scorer gets a post-match jug for the lads.

Manchester received from the kick off and straight from the start showed their intent with some good aggressive ball retention and counter rucking from the old heads. Manchester made the early play and with 15 gone, Mad Malc fed out to Richardson who took the ball flat to pop Chunky into space for the rotund inside centre to make his first of many powerful runs. A similar phase of play eventually saw Chunky ( I think!) go over to open the score for Manchester. Ant kicked wide from 40 out (or was it 10….)

Linley came back strong from the restart and took the game to Manchester but once again the ‘Manchester Barbarians’ showed commitment to the cause and continually frustrated Linley through the experience in the tight from Dave Arnold, Ric Carr, Adrian and Mark Grahamslaw.

Defensively, the 3rds showed cohesion as they defended the rucks well and with the backs shutting the opposition down quickly, Linley found it difficult to break Manchester down. On the Discipline front though, Manchester were getting continually binged by the official, who really didn’t need to go to spec savers to see some of the blatant skulduggery. With Manchester on the back foot, Linley ran in their first try after a quick penalty gave them a two man overlap out wide. Further penalties then led to Linley scoring a second try before the game balanced out into an evenly fought contest with both teams fighting to get the upper hand. Linley’s tactics continued to centre on trying to get their young backs into a free flowing game but the Manchester back line was a match in defence.

In comparison, Manchester were impressive in keeping the ball with their forwards and looked dangerous when quick ball put the backs on the front foot. All too often though, slow ball stopped Manchester from being more potent in attack.

Half Time – Mancs 5 v 14 Linley & Kidsgrove

The half time team talk focused on Manchester aiming to keep the ball even tighter amongst the forwards and trying to progress their forwards phase play through giving the half backs options. By this time, new back Rob had arrived and was briefly introduced and Manchester were up to 14 of their own…..still concerning for a home game….

As the half progressed, both teams continued to fight to get the upper hand but with the scrums and lines outs being an evenly fought contest, neither team was able to dominate for long periods. Some fine kicking out of hand by Ant gave Manchester good territory but the home team failed to capitalise from the lineouts as fatigue set in. It took a rare defensive error from a high ball that eventually lead to the away team scoring a further try and a successful penalty kick 5 minutes later, gave the visitors some breathing space at 22 v 5.

Manchester refused to surrender and once again stepped up the pace through the offloading game and quick ball down the line eventually lead to Josh running in Manchester’s second try. This time Ant banged over a great conversion from out wide. 22 v 12.

With 75 mins gone and the forwards panting heavily….but still giving a 110%, the Mancs backs for once failed to close space quickly enough and the Linley fullback capitalised from a good move to secure the game for the visitors. The final chat under the posts focused on restoring some order to the score line. With scrum half Barratt having to exit due to a life threatening ankle injury, Ant stepped in at 10 and Richardson moved to 9. Despite the forwards looking towards the bar after a fighting performance, one last charge down the field from the home team lead to an impressive barrage of ‘pick and goes’ which eventually resulted in a 5 yard penalty as Linley attempted to stop Manchester’s inevitable move towards the try line. Tim Harper went for the tap and Big Ric Carr, with the promise of pie and chips waiting for him in the bar drove through the Linley defence on the reverse angle to restore Manchester’s pride. Ant banged over the conversion again and the ref finally blew up; much to Big Phil and Miss Maple’s relief after a good hard shift in the 2nd row engine room! Not bad for their first game of the season and their debuts for Manchester.

Full Time: Manchester 17 v 27 Linley

The after match team talk focused on a great performance from a make shift team and the fact that at least 50% of the lads didn’t know each other. The skipper had asked for 110% from everyone and had got more. And so it was off to the showers to discuss Ric’s try and then into the bar to listen once again to how Ric scored his try…..; whilst also taking time to sample this week’s culinary delights of course.

A great game of rugby for the neutral. The sportsmanship of Linley is worth another mention after they helped out with the 2 players; thanks chaps. Also a special thanks to Rob who answered the 11th hour call from Ant and showed up for the 2nd half to help Manchester out with a gutsy 40 minute performance.

Man of the match: The whole team
Pre-Match quote of the day: “I’ll just have 10 minutes (yep, no problem, Dobbo told me we have 18 today”!)
Next Fixture: Wilmslow away (what colours will Manchester play in this time!)
3rd team Santa List – Some water bottles, a match ball and a first aid kit please would be good for starters!!!!!!