3rds Work Hard for 1st Round Cup Win

Squad: Marple Jon, Tim H, Pooley, Wirral, Adrian S, Ian r, Geoff U, Luke, Malc B, Ian B, Getty S, Mark G, Seb C, Stealth Jake, Dobbo, Big Phil, Jon D, Titch C, Matt, Rodger B

A Saturday afternoon which was made for rugby, saw Manchester 3rds and a squad of 20 travelling to Tameside to tackle Ashton under Lyne in the first round of the Raging Bull Plate. Once again, it was a Barbarians looking Manchester side that made the journey with a number of new signings and recent additions to the squad.

With numbers increasing and the first signs of consistency amongst the squad , Manchester arrived fired up for the game against an Ashton side that have been playing well in the East Division and the infamous Sibsy up front!

Returning skipper Dobbo opted for a starting XV consisting of a front row of Marple Jon, Tim Harper and Pooley, with Wirral Dave and Adrian making up the 2nd row engine room. The back row glamour boys consisted of Luke at open, Geoff and Ian R at Blindside. Malc Barratt and Ian B started as the pretty boy half back combination with Getty and big Mark making up the biggest centres partnership in history! The 3 quarters consisted of Stealth Jake, the ageing Seb Cole and Dobbo at fullback.

Manchester received from the kick off and showed their immediate intent to keep the ball tight in the forwards through some strong running and ball retention. It was obvious from the onset that Manchester would need to work hard at the set pieces as Ashton fronted up strongly at scrum time.

With Luke looking to take on Ashton on his own in the first 5 mins, the young back row was unfortunate not to open the scoring for Manchester on two occasions. Nevertheless, it was Manchester who kept the upper hand in the first 15 mins and some good work off the back of a ruck from 5 meters out , saw Geoff pick and go to open the scoring for Manchester. Ian converted to give Manchester a 7 v 0 lead.

Ashton came back at Manchester through some strong play up front but a number of handling errors and some aggressive tackling from the Manchester backs kept the home team out of the Manchester half. In response, Manchester continued to make good progress going forward but occasional white line fever resulted in a number of wasted opportunities. With 20 mins gone, Luke broke through the Ashton defence taking 3 players with him and finishing with a premium head-butt of the posts and no try. 5 mins later, Adrian was held up on the line to keep the contest tight.

Manchester defended well at the rucks and breakdowns and a number of big heights in the midfield by Getty, Mark and Ian kept Ashton from progressing through their backs. When Ashton attempted to play the kicking game, Field Marshall ‘Simon Rommel-Dobbo’s catching and clearing game was worthy of a man half his age and meant the home team were never able to put Manchester under any serious pressure through that approach.

The remainder of the 1st half was a well fought out contest with neither team dominating. However, it was undoubtedly Manchester that went into the half time break more frustrated on account of failing to capitalise on a number of good opportunities.

Half time: Ashton 0 v 7 Manchester

The 2nd half started with new signing Titch making his debut for the Grove Park outfit for the injured and rotund half back Malc Barratt. Ashton made a number of substitutions and their intentions appeared to get their young back line into the game. However, with the Manchester backs equal in defence, the game became an evenly fought contest in the second 40 with neither side once again being able to completely dominate.

Ashton’s strength in the scrum frustrated Manchester and the lack of clean lineout ball was once again the away teams achilles heel. Had more ball got to the Manchester backs from the set pieces, then undoubtedly the Ashton backs would have been asked more questions through Manchester’s big ball carriers. As the half progressed, the Manchester forwards began to work more coherently as a unit and it was the red and whites that eventually capitalised through a try after Getty charged down a clearance kick in Ashtons 22.

Ashton’s continued resilience was awarded with a try with 20 mins remaining and following a blindside back row move. With the conversion going over and the scoreline at 14 v 7, the game remained evenly balanced. Manchester refused to panic and once again took the game to Ashton through some good ball retention and a crash ball in the Ashton 22 saw big South African Getty going over with 4 men hanging off him to give Manchester some breathing space on the scoreboard.

Ashton continued to come at Manchester and as fatigue took effect, their backs started to find more space. Two last ditch try saving tackles from fullback Matt and good ball retention from the forwards ultimately sealed the game for Manchester.

Final score: Ashton 7 v 21 Manchester

And so Manchester 3rds had reached the dizzy heights of the 2nd round of the prestigious Raging Bull Plate……… The after match talk focused on the overall positives from a team that consists of new signings and unfamiliar faces on a weekly basis. Communication will undoubtedly improve in the coming weeks and months and in turn Manchester will continue to improve on the field. The 3rds should have no problems with achieving their first goal of the season, which is to remain in the league. A good cup run will undoubtedly raise further interest; particularly against Dukinfield 4ths in the next round.

Ashton were magnanimous in defeat and credit has to be given for their resilience throughout the game. The opposition made Manchester work hard for the full 80 mins to win the game and no doubt they will continue to perform well in the league this season.

And so it was off to the changing rooms to discuss Getty’s ‘bobby dazzler’ trainers! The usual banter surrounding 40 something men and old spice were thrown around. In the meantime Big Phil tried to hide the last of the Jaffa cakes. The big fella tried to defend his actions as small comfort for having to break his overdraft on account of Mrs Phil’s outfit for the forthcoming Annual Ball at Grove Park!

Next Fixture: - Home v Ashton-on-Mersey

Man of the match: Has to be Seb Cole for his audacity in agreeing to play on the wing!!! Dream on Davros!

Most Ridiculous trainers of the day: Getty’s!

Most useless statistics for the last four games: Red & White team strip = 2 wins; red vets strip = 0 wins; blue vet strip = 0 wins…..!

Best side step of the game: Wirral Dave’s attempted tackle!