Manchester given No Mercy at Ashton-on-Mersey

Result - AoM 28v7 MRC

With 7 new starters for todays fixture it was always going to be about getting the game time and playing as smart as possible against a barbarian side made up of time served rugby players from our two host clubs.

Well, we certainly didn't disappoint in what was a great introduction to match level rugby for a number of our players, having only played in training level games before now.

Eddie, our glorious leader, lost the toss and AoM accepted the kick from us with Charles stepping up to drop off and the match was underway. From the start, Luke (day off from wendy ball) was up for it, sprinting ahead to cut down the options as AoM took possession of the ball. The match had started at such a pace with Harrison and Paul leading the way in the forwards, making big hits and keeping AoM penned back in their half of the field.

The first scrum of the half saw Manchester strong against the well drilled AoM pack but the ball went to the feeding side and the attack was on. Defence was everything with Ethan organising the Manchester drift defence. Wave after wave of AoM attack was felled by Charles, Eddie, Ethan and Alex. Luke and Hanuf sniped at the fridges of the breakdown, with Myles and Max interchanging to protect the rear as fullbacks for the day. The forwards rumbled up and down the pitch, ably led by Olly, who took hooking, line out and pack leader responsibility in his stride throughout this encounter.

With building pressure though, AoM were pinning Manchester back in their own 22, with clearance kicks coming from Luke, Hanuf and Charles to keep us in the match. AoM taking a catch from one of Luke's clearance kicks and it looked like our line was split until Ethan came from nowhere to deliver a truly awesome tackle that felled the AoM fullback. This unfortunately, put Ethan out of the game with a bruised wrist, which will see him training only for the next 2/3 weeks as he rehabilitates. At this point, Josh entered the fray as a replacement and Myles moved to outside centre, accommodating Josh at fullback.

It was a forwards first half with ruck and maul turnovers for both sides and big hits on the half back pairings of both teams. As the pressure built on Manchester, AoM got the ball out wide and looped around the wingers to score their first score of the day. Unbowed, Manchester came right back from the restart. Luke and Myles chased hard from the kick and the AoM centre knocked on as he watched the impending pain descend on him as he waited for the ball to arrive. From the resulting scrum, Hanuf picked up and drove forward into the oppositions 22. With no 9 available, Luke took on the scrum half duties, popping the ball up for first Taha and then Nathan, to keep the momentum in Manchester's favour. As the maul became a ruck there was Harrison to pick up and drive for the line, scoring his first try in his debut match for Manchester and it was all level with just a minute or so left of the first half. From the restart AoM drove forward as halftime beckoned we were again out ran as the AoM wing ran in his second of the match as the referee blew for the end of the half.

Myles couldn't continue through the 2nd half with what appears to be ligament damage at the base of his thumb and he too will be training only for the next couple of weeks as he gives it time to recover. This gave Max more match time at fullback as he finds his way back into rugby, after having taken a sabbatical to play tennis for a couple of years.

The second half was more of the same. Good work by the forwards at line out and scrum, with players interchanging to give each team mate more positional knowledge of each position. The unfortunate consequence of this was that we didn't again get over the AoM whitewash, whilst AoM were able to run in two more tries in the second half to close down the match, 4 tries to one.

Today's totally awesome players were (tries in brackets): Bill, Charles, Connor, Jack, Alex, Eddie, Ethan, Hanuf, Harrison(1) Josh, Myles, Nathan, Olly, Bobby, Luke, Paul, Max and Taha.

No.1 Defender: Ethan
Tackle of the Week: Ethan
Player of the Week: Harrison

Next week finds us training at home on Thursday and building on the drill work we have been doing in previous weeks. Great handling like that shown at AoM is the key to our success in the backs and superb teamwork around the contact areas for us to keep possession will put us in good stead in the pack. Then on Sunday we are away at Aldwinians in Audenshaw for our second Lancashire Cup outing of the season. We will also be playing Heaton Moor in a triangular Cup competition. Parking is tight so get there early and let us know availability by Thursday's training session.

Crouch, bind, set! Ian