Manchester March On with a Scruffy Win

Squad: T. Harper, D. Hiley, A. Smith, S. Parker, B. Gordon, P.Wright, D.Fagan, A.Ballan, J.Chidgey, F.Whelan, J.B. Wilde, W.Maslan, I.Richardson, I.Barber, S.Ryan, A.Woodward, A.Knowles, J.Maslan, S.Dobson, R.Marsden, H.Moores, T.Proffitt, N.Cartwright. Kit Manager, Physio: Alec T Moores.

Manchester 3rds returned to action this weekend with an away trip to the Black Pudding Brigade at Bury RUFC. Manchester were expecting a strong challenge from a Bury team who traditionally field a big pack but nevertheless went into the game feeling confident after a good away win against Village Spartans last time out and having recorded 6 wins from 7 games.

Manchester were forced into a number of changes due to injuries, work commitments and half term from the team that beat Village Spartans but the depth of the squad was once again evident as Manchester named a strong starting 15. With Big J sunning it in Ibiza in his thong (a rather large one I presume!!), Mark G on International duty and Simon Horsefield out with busted ribs, there was an opportunity to give some players with limited game time to make a point to the Hoff. As with the Spartans game though, the starting team had to be changed at KO due to the late arrival of H, Proff and Franny, on account of Harry not buying a train ticket, being accused of fare dodging and ultimately being derailed in Prestbury by the ‘Fat Controller’ (not to snitch but I hope his mum reads this and clips the little thief round the ear!).

As usual the Hoff was forced to make changes as part of his ritual Saturday multi-tasking (if it’s not forgotten shorts, boots, I need a lift, can you be my mum, care assistant or social worker, it is guaranteed to be resolving late arrivals!). Tim H, Dan H and ‘The Chuckler’ started up front with Brigadoon and ‘Igor’ in the 2nd row engine room. The back row saw the return of the ever expanding Ash Ballan, James Tidgey back from injury and JBW starting into the blind side. The backs supposedly unchanged from the Spartans…. now saw Will Maslan and Hoff as the half backs. Skeletor and Mr Magoo once again combined in the centres and Alex Knowles, ‘The Whinger’ and Julian Maslam starting as the three quarters trio.

From the kick off Manchester took the game to Bury with some strong running from the forwards but Bury’s strong counter rucking and a failure to secure their own ruck ball, disrupted Manchester’s quick game and the backs were left trying to improvise with ball in hand in blustery conditions during the early stages. When the ball went wide Manchester looked dangerous with some powerful runs from Mr Magoo and Mas. Only some last ditch defence by Bury stopped Manchester from breaking through on a number of occasions. Up front, Basher Ballan, James Tidgey and Brigadoon were carrying well and some good ball retention by the Manchester pack saw Ash and his belly break through two tackles to swallow dive (or was it a swallow flop) over the line to give Manchester the lead with 15 minutes gone.

Bury responded well but Manchester’s continuous improvement and commitment in defence kept Bury out. The arrival of the Artful Dodger and his two amigos saw Franny Whelan replace JBW to give Manchester a 3rd option in the line out. With Manchester more settled, the Grove Park men once again took the game to Bury with The Chuckler leading the way with some strong work and disruptive play at the breakdowns. Manchester continued to be dominant in the scrum but their line outs remained a random affair. Despite Manchester’s greater possession, they still failed to settle and should have been at least three tries for the good but for some white line fever, a lack of communication between backs and forwards and too much congestion in the mid-field when the ball went wide.

With The Chuckler pulling a calf muscle, Manchester brought on ‘Sideshow Steve’ to shore up the front row. In defence Manchester once again showed that the paths through to their try line are limited as they defended well around the rucks and in open play with their back line. Despite some late Bury pressure, Manchester went into half time frustrated that they had only managed to accrue 7 points for their efforts.

Half Time: Bury 0 v 7 Manchester

The half time team talk focused on Manchester improving on the basics at the ruck to release quick ball and not getting pulled into a battle up front with the big Bury forwards and old heads. Team Cad, Dobbo Dobson and the jet fighter Proff replaced Julian and Alex on the wings and the ‘Steak & Kidney Pie express’ slipped into the 2nd row to replace ‘Igor’.

The 2nd 40 started with Bury taking the game to Manchester up front and trying to release their young line but once again Manchester showed their metal in D. Manchester continued to look dangerous on the counter attack but as with the first half small errors and wrong decisions stopped the away team from increasing their lead.

With 10 minutes gone, soon to be convict Harry Moores replaced Will Mas who had a great debut for Manchester in a difficult situation. Moores immediately injected pace into the Manchester game and started to force Bury onto the back foot as the slippery one made more of his renowned breaks from the back of the rucks (pity he didn’t avoid the ticket inspector like that!).
With Manchester taking control of the game once again it was only time before their continued pressure paid off and Moores eventually went over to score a try to give Manchester a 10 point lead. With the Grove Park men more settled, they began to play more of their normal game plan with some great work up front from Tim Harper and Brigadoon in the loose and some powerful runs from Ballan. Across the park, the younger combination of Franny, Hiley and Tidge paid off as they supported the backs well in open play. Manchester continued to fluff chances but eventually further pressure told as the San Tropez Dobbo went over to score a well worked try with 15 minutes remaining. Neil Cartwright replaced the Hoff at 10 to make a welcomed return after a recent lay off and Will Mas was called back into action in the centres after Mr Magoo lost another contact lens. With 5 minutes remaining, Manchester ran in another try after a great solo break from young Will. Big Josh Wilde replaced Tidge who had put in a good shift at open side to see out the game.

Manchester remain top of their league after a hard fought team win for another week. This probably wasn't Manchester’s best performance of the season by any stretch of the imagination but the sign of a good team is their ability to dig deep and churn out a victory when the game plan doesn’t quite work. In D, Manchester once again showed that this is where they have improved dramatically on previous seasons. Some noticeable performances up front came from the back row boys Tidge, Fran and Bash with JBW offering good back form the bench. Dan Hiley worked his socks off around the pitch and Sideshow Steve put in a good performance at tight head after replacing The Chuckler who once again showed his value to the team up front. Tim and Brigadoon steered the good ship Forwards as always. In the backs, it wasn’t the normal slick handling that Manchester are getting use to but it was undoubtedly just an off day in windy conditions with a pink ball! The whinger had a noticeable performance sweeping up loose ball and ‘The Cad’ had a great 2nd half performance on the wing, scoring a well worked try. It was also great to see Dan Ballan back supporting the team after breaking his leg in the first game of the season and making a good recovery. He still has to break the news to his Misses that he intends to be back in the red and white shirt at some point in February or March; it will be great to see him making a return.

With Manchester having a bye in the first round of the cup next weekend it gives the squad the opportunity to focus on what will be their biggest challenge of the season so far against the young and often under manned Manchester Medics. There is plenty to work on during the next two training sessions and with the return of ‘The Viking, Big J and hopefully Simon Horsefield, the Red and Whites will be a strong force going into that game.

And so it was off to the bar where pie and mushy peas were on the menu, much to big Phil’s delight once again! Grown men feared for their lives as the big fella devoured his pie & peas, with no quarter asked and no quarter given the pie! Mr Magoo was seen wondering soullessly around the pitch an hour after the game had finished looking for the bar and Tim kept offering the Hoff chocolate cake (he’s obviously after something!). Big Ben told Sideshow Steve that he had a nice pear shaped bottom, purely from a professional 2nd row perspective of course. The Chuckler chuckled, the Artful Dodger tried to steal a 2nd pie, kit manager Alec Moores randomly barked at everyone like a rabid dog and said his brain hurt and somebody remarked that Wirral Dave’s Halloween costume was awesome; only to be told he wasn’t wearing a costume; alright laaaaaaaaaaaaaaa, calm down, calm down!!

Forthcoming Activities:
Saturday: Training – Grove Park – 1.00pm to 14:10 – followed by the England v New Zealand game
Thursday 13th: Training – 19:00 to 20:45
Saturday 15th November: Manchester RUFC vs Manchester Medics – 14:15 Kick Off.