Points Scored, Point Made

After linking up with a number of the Glossop girls last week in the County campaign, this was an eagerly awaited encounter. Both sides were keen to impress, Manchester after the disappointment of a couple of league defeats when the team really deserved better, and Glossop after their recent first defeat of the season at Caldy.

Manchester’s scrummaging work in training again paid dividends from the start. Glossop were simply unable to cope with the home side’s technique and power and found themselves moving backwards even on their own put in. This secure platform from the forwards kept Manchester in the visitors’ half for all of the first quarter. Worryingly however, Manchester were again unable to convert territory into points – the nearest that they got was a chip through by Nieve Jones which both Nieve and Emily Houghton were just beaten to as it bobbled over the line.

The resulting 22 metre drop out followed by a penalty award finally allowed Glossop to escape their own half. Rebecca Scholes’ penalty took play to the 10 metre line which Glossop won cleanly, although the angle of the throw didn’t really give Manchester much chance to compete. Glossop’s backs enjoyed their first opportunity to attack rather than defend and certainly made the most of it, Robyn Lawrence forcing her way over the line to open the scoring.

Glossop should be given credit for having the energy to score after soaking up so much pressure but Manchester picked up where they left off, allowing the visitors just the odd short run out of defence and limiting their options to clearance kicks to gain ground.

Eventually, after half an hour of Glossop frustrating the opposition, a gap opened up with Katy Morten needing no second invitation to exploit it. With Hannah Johnson and Emily giving her options, Glossop were unable to defend the move and it was Katy who touched down, cutting in from the wing to score under the posts to equalise at 5-5. Maybe Nieve should have given Katy a rest (!) from converting her own try as the ball clattered the crossbar, bouncing back rather than over.

Having broken their duck, Manchester now looked more dangerous and a neat three-quarters move, started by Nieve, out to Katy and finished by Emily gave Manchester a well deserved half time advantage of 10 points to five.

There was a concern that despite the balance of play, the narrow lead may not be enough. This was based on the previous two league games when a strong first half performance has seen tries leaked after the break. Such doubts started to fade when an excellent flowing try was scored by Harriet Parsons five minutes into the second period. Again Katy and Emily linked well to break the defence but the support of Leanne Murray and Harriet was the key.

Five minutes later Hannah was able to grab a decisive score (20-5) in the corner. This followed some outstanding work by Nieve who controlled the game well throughout. This time she ran straight, refused to be held and continued to make headway to get the team into a strong attacking position.

It actually looked as if Nieve was going to claim a try for herself soon after when she charged down her opposite number’s clearance kick from inside her 22. Unfortunately the ball was lost sight of and Glossop were gratefully able to touch down for a drop out.

A period of scrappy play followed with reset scrums not helping the flow of play. Even though the forwards were tiring, some determined driving forced the ball within metres of the Glossop line before the maul was stopped. As the movement stalled, Amy Lees was on hand to shoot through the resulting ruck to secure Manchester’s five try bonus point at 25-5.

Glossop rallied from this and started to give Manchester a taste of their own medicine, pinning them inside their own 22 for several minutes. Some desperate defending looked good enough but the clearance kick bounced kindly and an alert Pip Gregory was able to rescue the losing bonus point for Glossop with a try, converted by Rebecca, closing the gap to 25-12.

There was just about time to restart and what a shame there was...in the very last play of the game an attacking Emily Houghton (pictured below in action) took a big hit which brought the game to a close. Emily was desperately unlucky that the timing of the tackle and the match resulted in a dislocated collarbone which may keep her out of action for a while. We hope not after yet another impressive and committed performance.

Jess Gurney took the Player of the Match award which was probably because, in a rare appearance at flanker, she appeared to be everywhere – amongst the forwards and backs, defending and attacking! This was undoubtedly a team performance however with everyone playing their part and earning the reward.

Our close links with Glossop allowed this fixture to be reversed for our U15s benefit later in the season – it was excellent news to hear that the joint Manchester (Northwich) / Glossop (Macclesfield) U15s team had won away at Hoppers to make it a double for Manchester and give some consolation on the day to Glossop.

Pictures here>>>
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