Sat 6 Apr 2024
The final Lancashire & Cheshire Counties 1 fixture of the season was played out in windy conditions, with Eccles steadfastly sticking to the task of earning the bonus point win they needed against hosts Tarleton to secure their promotion to Level 6.
With a Southwesterly Gale 9 at their backs, Eccles began as boisterous as the weather, playing with aggressive energy from the kick off and made a flying start when Fortune broke the Tarleton line on the left and offloaded neatly to Wright, bursting through at close range, to dot down behind the posts in the opening minutes. 2” TRY ECCLES (Wright), Converted (Simpson) 0-7.
For the next 30 minutes the game hardly left the Tarleton 22. On the rare occasion the ball was cleared into Eccles territory it was swiftly punted back into Tarleton’s last quarter, with the wind assisting more than one 50/22 in Eccles' favour. Although Eccles had the greater share of possession and a multitude of opportunities to score, a combination of eagerness, handling errors and the host’s disciplined , determined defence thwarted any advancement. The challenging conditions made passing and line out throwing unpredictable and even a gentle grubber kick from Simpson was blown off the pitch chased by Ackers Johnson and Parkinson in frustrated pursuit.
On 17” Eccles appeared to have unlocked the situation when the ball sailed past its target of Donovan but was caught at the back of the line-out by Reed who charged through two tackles and, on being felled a few meters short of the goal line, offloaded to the supporting Cox but the ball was blown out of his grasp and swept out of play by a scrambling defender before Long could ground it in the corner. A few minutes later Cullen broke from the back of an Eccles 5m scrum and Donovan carried the attack to within a meter of the goal line, Long switched the next pass inside to Houghton but the ball was lost by the young back row inches from glory.
On 23” a 15m Eccles tap penalty was passed to Reed, who bulldozed through the defenisve line to take play close to the goal line but the ball was knocked-on in the ruck. On 26” Eccles were held up in the in-goal. On 30” Houghton broke through the line and offloaded in the tackle with one hand to the supporting Evans on his shoulder who was unable to catch the ball when he was clean through to score. On 34” an auspicious Eccles scrum 10m out offered the perfect platform but once again the ball was lost at the breakdown. At 38” Eccles secured the ball from a line-out inside the Tarleton 22 and forwards' pistons set up a lovely reverse pass back inside from Wright to Reed who once again charged in with ball to 5m from the goal line, but the resulting Long pass out to Simpson was caught by the wind, blown to ground, and hacked away by Tarleton, typifying the frenetic nature of play. Eccles had pinned Tarleton into their territory for almost the entire first half but were to about pay the price for their squandered chances. As the clock ticked down to half time, Eccles lost possession at an attacking ruck, the ball squirmed loose and the Tarleton winger took his opportunity and sped off up the blindside from inside his own half to score at the other end as the last play before the interval!
HT 5-7.
In the second half Eccles played into the strong wind and the benefit to accurate passing was immediately clear. Eccles made swift work of an effective attack on the right. With close interplay between the forwards Spooner broke through the line inside the 22 and offloaded to Donovan who smashed through at close range to score. 42” TRY ECCLES (Donovan) 5-12 .
The flood gates were open and Eccles poured through. Shortly after the restart the ball was quickly moved to the right wing where Ackers-Johnson wriggled out of the tackle and was uncatchable as he raced away into the open field to dab down behind posts, notching up his 24th try of the season. 48” TRY ECCLES (Ackers Johnson) Converted (Simpson) 5-19.
A few minutes later, the left wing was deployed in the same style, with Parkinson making the break and offloading to Fortune who weaved through the defenders and skipped inside to score in the corner. The attempted conversation from Simpson was suspended by the supernatural wind in mid air and propelled backwards behind the kicker! 53” TRY ECCLES (Fortune) 5-24.
With an hour played Eccles introduced replacements, Talbot Dutton for Long and Aspinall for Campbell. Tarleton responded to this disruption, scoring through a well-worked move to the side of the posts making the conversation a formality (62” 12-24) but before any thoughts of a fightback could take hold Eccles regained their authority and from a penalty inside Tarleton territory a line-out catch and drive in the left corner gave the captain the opportunity to spin off the back of the maul to score his 12th try of the season. 68” TRY ECCLES (Cox) 12-29.
At 73” Donovan was shown a yellow card for not wrapping his arms in a tackle and from the resulting penalty inside the 22 Tarleton scored and converted (19-29). 14-man Eccles remained composed and in control for the remainder of the match and the game concluded in good spirits with no further scores.
FT 19-29
Eccles Team: Reed, Cox (C), Campbell, Manzanres, Donovan, Spooner, Houghton, Cullen; Long, Simpson; Ackers Johnson, Candland, Wright, Fortune, Parkinson. Replacements Aspinall, Evans, Talbot Dutton. Coaches: Simpson, Rayner, Selby. Manager: Green. Physio: Zammit.
Eccles pushed Champions Widnes all the way to the last game of season, finishing as Counties 1 runners up with 93 points and are duly promoted to RFU Level 6 with one of the best playing records nationally at Level 7. Back to back promotions is surely only the start for this improving Eccles team full of homegrown talent, who rounded off an outstanding season in Counties 1 with an 8-game wining run and were unbeaten away from home. Next season for the Eccles 1XV looks tasty with trips to Douglas IOM, Whitchurch and Vale of Lune as well as local fixtures with Bowdon, Burnage and Altrincham Kersal to look forward to. However, mens rugby at Eccles is not yet complete. The Eccles 2XV, 3XV, and 4XV all still have fixtures to play this April and all three teams are at the top of their divisions, challenging for titles and fighting for promotion.
Photos by Phil Saunders Hall.
