Sat 23 Sep 2023
The fixtures and abandonments had presented Eccles with fragmented start to the season but they were able to travel west to a sunny Stockton Lane with an unchanged squad to face Warrington who appeared to be suffering from an unsettled team in their opening games.
The hosts kicked off and in the opening minutes both teams were eager to play quickly, with attacking line breaks taking play from the Warrington 22 to the Eccles 22. Eccles absorbed the early pressure and from a spilled ball, an Eccles scrum inside the 22 was a platform to mount another attack. The ball was moved out to the blindside into the hands of Ackers-Johnson who evaded the Warrington defence and sped up the right wing to score under the posts. TRY/CONV 09’ 0-7.
A few minutes later a similar break up the right wing sees fullback Will Parkinson speed past the defender and swerve infield to dot down between the sticks and put Eccles in control with quarter of an hour played. TRY/CONV 14’ 0-14.
Warrington attempted to respond and kept Eccles pinned inside their territory but were unable to turn that sustained pressure into points. Eccles soaked it up and waited patiently for the opportunity to break out which came soon enough and required committed defensive work from the hosts to halt on the 22. Eccles however were building momentum and from a line out on the right Booth regained possession in the air, giving Manzanares the opportunity to charge in towards the goal line, with quick ball at the breakdown and some great handling from the backs, Parkinson side stepped the tackle and offloaded to Ackers Johnson who burst right through the middle on his shoulder to score under the posts. Simpson kicking the extras. TRY/CONV 21’ 0-21
Once again Warrington reacted to this set back and put Eccles under pressure inside their 22. Despite a good period of possession, and a yellow card on 32’ for Centre Byron Read, the hosts were unable to break down the defence. With a few minutes to play before the interval, Simpson turned over possession inside the Eccles 22 and was able to break up the field before the promising rapid counter attack fizzled out in the Warrington 22 due to the slow arriving support from his team mates. Aside from this, Eccles had otherwise taken full advantage of their opportunities to score during the first half. The scoreline at the break suggested a comfortable one-sided contest for the visitors but it had been far from this, as the Eccles defence had worked hard for long periods to remain unbreached.
HT 0-21
Eccles began the second half with 14 men and a defiant spirit. With 45’ played an incident at a scrum resulted in blows thrown by the Warrington tighthead, unseen by the match official. A second incident followed the next scrum and the game became fractured as Warrington looked to find a way back into the match. Eccles eventually returned to a full complement of players but were fixed inside their territory as the Warrington forwards applied sustained pressure and finally got their reward when their number 8 broke from a 5-metre scrum, and following a few phases of play the flanker was put in to score in the left corner. TRY/CONV 54’ 7-21.
Warrington attempted to build on this success from the restart but an excellent jackal from Centre Candland inside the 22 resulted in a penalty. Eccles tapped quickly and with accurate passing across the pitch - Wright to Simpson to Moseley - the ball moved swiftly to the left catching Warrington napping. The winger was released and applied the gas, earning Eccles another fast breaking score from the back line. TRY/CONV 57’ 7-28.
Warrington pulled one back, also from a quick penalty, barging over from 5 meters out to take the score to 12-28 but this was to be end of the points for the hosts. With the game entering the last 10 minutes Warrington’s eagerness to attack led to some ambitious passing and an interception gave Eccles anther break. Good breakdown work from U18 Matt Houghton in midfield set up a platform for the backs. Wright distributed to Simpson and the Fly half broke up the left flank and there was no catching him as he scored and then kicked the conversion. TRY/CONV 70’ 12-35.
A sixth try followed late in the game, with great work again in attack from the youthful back row, Houghton, Thornton and Booth combining through a number of phases, and the well worked move was finished by the Number Eight. Simpson kicking the extras. TRY/CONV 76’ 12-42
FT 12-42.
Perseverance and discipline in defence combined with precision and speed in attack earned Eccles a well deserved victory. It was to be a good all-round day as the preseason preparations paid off with all four Eccles mens teams recording wins (1XV W 12-42, 2XV W 59-10, 3XV W 58-0, 4XV W 42-17).
