ECCLES RFC TAKE A HARD FOUGHT FOR 36-23 WIN OVER DIDSBURY

Although fixtures between Eccles and Toc H began back in 1926 Didsbury Toc H had been infrequent visitors to Gorton Street in recent seasons with just two fixtures in the last decade. Despite the absence of recent results to assess comparable strength, both clubs were enjoying good form and with Eccles placed second in Counites 1 and Didsbury just one point behind in third place the game promised to be a close and competitive contest.

With just a couple of minutes played Eccles lost possession in their own half and Didsbury reacted quickly, attacking down the left flank. A forward pass out to the wing was not penalised and the opening try was scored in the corner, with a well struck kick converting the extras to give the visitors a very early lead. (3' 0-7)  Eccles struck back within 5 minutes. Sharp passing in midfield from Simpson put Cox straight through the gap in the defence, the hooker charged towards the line and offloaded to Centre Reed who was tackled in font of the posts resulting in a penalty at the ruck, which Simpson kicked to reduce the deficit. (8’ 3-7). Didsbury responded directly from the restart, winning a penalty inside the Eccles 22 which reclaimed the advantage. (9’ 3-10).

Following these end to end opening exchanges, the game settled and for the next 20 minutes Eccles enjoyed the possession and territory but were unable to penetrate the Didsbury defence and turn their attacking pressure into points. The best opportunity to score came to Eccles in the 25th minute when Simpson tapped a penalty quickly to break from midfield and with good footwork avoided the tacklers to race into the 22 and pass out wide to the supporting Cox who lost balance just short of the goal line and with slow arriving support, ultimately lost possession to Didsbury for holding on at the breakdown.  At 30 minutes an injury to a Didsbury player inside the visitors half halted play which was restarted with a scum, from where the ball was accurately kicked for a 50/20 and from the resulting line out Didsbury earned another penalty which the number 10, whose kicking was accurate throughout the match, slotted home to extend the Didsbury lead. (31’ 3-13).

Despite the score line Eccles remained composed and straight from the restart an infringement at a breakdown gave Eccles a penalty which was kicked to the corner, from the line out a successful catch and drive resulted in a score in the corner by Cox from the back of the maul. (TRY 35’ 8-13).

Within 2 minutes of the restart Eccles were attacking again with verve, with Ackers Johnson cutting through the middle and offloading to Simpson who advanced to the goal line and was brought down illegally resulting in another penalty. Eccles declined the opportunity to kick the easy points and instead returned to corner for a line out which was caught cleanly but the maul failed and the ball was knocked on and Didsbury came away with a 10m scrum. However, Eccles were playing their best rugby of the half and possession was soon won back. With a split move in the middle and the forwards charging left, the ball was switched attack right and there was no stopping fullback Parkinson who sped through the defence on a diagonal line to score with a spectacular dive to put Eccles in front, just before the break. (TRY 39’ 15-13). 

Tactical replacements at the interval saw Long replace Wright at Scrum Half and Tyson replace Ayanlaja-Lowo on the right Wing. However Eccles made a sloppy start to the second half knocking on and made a determined defensive effort until a penalty at a breakdown presented Didsbury with the opportunity to kick themslves into the lead. (41’ 15-16)

Eccles responded to the set back, playing with speed and attacking aggression. A try attempt by Tyson was denied in the right corner and then, from a line out catch and drive in the same corner, the ball was swiftly passed across the pitch to Ackers-Johnson who dived in to the left corner but was held up. Didsbury were struggling to hold Ecces out and the goal line drop out was cleanly caught and returned with interest by Houghton. The ball was quikcly recycled to Simpson who side stepped into space and offloaded to centre Byron Reed who strode over the goal line to dot down and score. Converted by Simpson. (TRY 47’ 22-16).

There was no change in the score for 10 minutes, until a penalty in the Didsbury half lead to yet another penalty in the Eccles 22 and the visitors scored to the side of the sticks to return the game to a 1 point contest. (59’ 22-23).  With the match entering the last 10 minutes a change in personnel saw Ayanlaja-Lowo return to the field at blindside flanker where his power is put to good use. The high number of penalties awarded at the breakdowns continued and a Toc H knock on in midfield gave Eccles a scrum on the right, from where the ball was zipped into the openside and the left winger broke clean through the defensive line to scoot in and score under the sticks, whilst the front row forwards continued to tussle. TRY. CONV. (72’ 29-23).

Didsbury retained the ball at the restart and with Eccles pressing hard to suppress a break out, Simpson intercepted the ball just outside 22 and ran free to dive and score under the posts, to the jubilation of his team mates. With Simpson crushed, Tyson kicked the conversation. (TRY 79’ 36-23)

A close competitive contest with a big hearted performance delivering two late tries seeking a bonus point hard fought win for Eccles who will be looking to improve breakdown technique to reduce their penalty count in next week’s game at Broughton Park.