Eccles welcomed Aspull back to Gorton Street knowing that nothing less than a bonus point home win would be needed to regain momentum following the defeat last Saturday at Aldwinians. Eccles had secured a 24-30 victory in the game at Woods Road in October and with another combative contest expected, a reinforced line up saw some experienced faces return to the pack. Eccles kicked off in sunny conditions and for the opening 10 minutes it was an evenly balanced game, played mostly in the middle of the field with the visitors enjoying the greater share of possession and Eccles most promising attacks coming from Fortune using his pace and kicking to break down the left wing into the Aspull 22. With 13 minutes on the clock, Wright and Simpson combined to release Candland. The centre burst through the tackle but was stopped just short of of the goal-line, Aspull regained the ball at the breakdown and kicked to release the pressure but Eccles were soon back inside the 22 with the forwards using a driving maul to good effect on the right. Simpson switched the point of the attack with a kick to the left, this resulted in a free kick and with good persistence from the forwards the deadlock was broken with a score in the right corner. TRY ECCLES (Cox) 5-0 14’. Eccles retained the ball at the restart and attacked down the left flank with Fortune offloading to the supporting Reed, however possession was lost in the tackle and Aspull mounted a counter attack and once inside the Eccles half their right winger used speed and footwork to evade the tackles and score in the corner. TRY ASPULL Conv. 5-7 19' Eccles looked to respond to this set back and effective kicking from Simpson looked to have secured a line out deep inside the Aspull 22 but the defender kept the ball in play, and despite being pounced on by winger Balogun and openside Houghton, a 5m scrum was awarded to Aspull. From this defensive position a big boot up field gave Aspull a line out in the Eccles 22 and from this opportunity the visitors scored between posts. TRY ASPULL. Conv 5-14 26’ The end to end nature of the game was suiting the visitors and for the next 15 minutes Eccles set about building sustained pressure to keep the game inside Aspull territory with the forwards contributing to the penetrating drives. A terrific charging line from Houghton broke through the defence inside 22 resulting in a penalty against Aspull at the breakdown. PENALTY ECCLES (Simpson) 8-14 29’. Following the restart another break from Fortune on left wing saw the ball kicked ahead into space and with the covering defender quickly swarmed, Eccles were awarded a penalty which was kicked to the corner for a line-out on the left. Donovan’s handling was assured in the air and a successful catch, maul, drive resulted in a score in the corner. TRY ECCLES (Frost) Conv (Simpson) 15-14 33’. Attacking momentum was now with Eccles who piled pressure on the visitors and multiple penalties inside their 22 lead to another Eccles line-out in the same left corner with Donovan once again securing the ball. The maul was collapsed and a yellow card shown to Aspull. The next attempt at the line-out catch and drive was more successful and with dogged determination from the forwards the score eventually came from the prop amongst a pile of bodies. TRY ECCLES (Campbell) 20-14 39’. HT 20-14 Aspull started the second half with intent and the Eccles defensive resolve was tested for the first 10 minutes, but the only points the visitors gained from this period was a kicked penalty to take the score to within 3 points (20-17). At the restart, with vocal encouragement to the pack from Long, a replacement at scrum half with Wright moved to centre, possession was regained by Eccles. Wright found Fortune out wide who used his footwork and kicking to swiftly move play up field, resulting in an decision against Aspull inside their 22 and Eccles took the opportunity to extend the lead. PENALTY ECCLES (Simpson) 23-17 54’. Aspull secured possession at the restart in Eccles territory but Simpson ripped the ball from the carrier and instantly stepped on the gas to break free, running 30m before diving to score between the sticks. TRY ECCLES (Simpson) Conv (Simpson) 30-17 57’. In recent fixtures Eccles have conceded points in the last 20 minutes games but there was no sign of this against Aspull as the forwards tightened their grip on the game, with locks Lillie and Donovan in particular making a big contribution to the set piece and line out accuracy. The Eccles pack remained composed and controlled in both attack and defence with good discipline shown in front of their goal line at 67’ when the visitors made a determined effort to break through but ultimately lost possession of the ball. Aspull’s last clear opportunity to score came a few minutes later when the right winger, who gave a good performance throughout, intercepted an Eccles pass at the halfway line and raced away only to loose his footing as he attempted to side step the untroubled fullback Parkinson and the score was denied him. As the clock ticked down, Eccles looked to play the game inside the opposition half and a high spiral bomb from Simpson resulted in the Aspull 14 making an uncharacteristic error dropping the ball, providing the opportunistic Fortune with the opportunity to pick up possession and attack up the wing, resulting in a line-out in the corner. With the ball secured, Simpson seized the moment with an inventive chip over the top of the advancing defence. The bouncing ball evaded both him and Fortune but landed into the perfectly timed, experienced hands of Donovan who charged in to score between the sticks to conclude the match. TRY ECCLES (Donovan) Conv (Simpson) 37-17 79’. Four of Eccles five tries were scored by forwards, a fitting reflection of their all-round influence on the game. The bonus-point win keeps Eccles in contention at the top of the Counties 1 table and sets up the prospect of an entertining contest at Widnes next Saturday. FT 37-17 Photos by Charlotte Wilson Team: J Cunningham, F Cox, C Ayrton, S Lillie, S Donovan, A Frost, M Houghton, L Cullen; J Wright, L Simpson, T Balogun, H Candland, B Read, C Fortune, W Parkinson. Replacements S Long. L Evans, D Aspinall.
