Sat 9 Mar 2024
Eccles overpowered Heaton Moor with 10 tries in an entertaining game at Gorton Street on Saturday, to keep them at the top of the Lancashire & Cheshire Counties 1 Division.
In breezy, chilly conditions, Eccles looked to take control straight from the kick off with expansive passing from stand off Simpson and deft handling from wingers Fortune and Ackers-Johnson stretching the Heaton Moor defence. For the opening 10 minutes Eccles fixed the game inside Moor territory, however they lacked the precision they displayed last Saturday at Didsbury and there were signs of complacency when their attacks inside the 22 were twice intercepted by the hosts. With quarter of an hour played a line-out in the corner gave Eccles the perfect opportunity to open the scoring but the ball was overthrown by Cox and possession was lost a few meters from the goal line.
This carelessness refocussed Eccles who returned the ball back into the Moor 22 and with fast and furious work, play was moved from left to right flanks, pulling the visitor’s determined defence apart. Simpson broke through the line at speed, resulting in a penalty which was quickly tapped and passed to Ackers-Johnson who took the ball to within a meter of the line, Simpson swiftly switched direction and scored in the corner. 17” TRY ECCLES (Simpson) 5-0.
Moor responded immediately and on winning a 5-meter line-out the visitors were successful in grounding the ball over the goal line on their second attempt, just to right of the posts to level the scores.19” TRY HEATON MOOR 5-5.
The Moor conversion hit the upright and the increasing influence of the wind was noticeable following the restart when a kick from Simpson intended to exploit the space behind the defensive line was carried out of play. However, Eccles soon regained possession, winning the next scrum against the head and play remained inside the Heaton Moor 22 for the next 10 minutes, where series of penalties and try attempts from Cox and Candland built the pressure on the visitors. Respite was sought in a big boot up field but the ball was returned with interest by Fortune and Thornton on the left, and with some skilful juggling between Cox and Candland the captain powered through the tackle to put Eccles ahead. 28” TRY ECCLES (Cox) conv (Simpson) 12-5.
Eccles had now found their attacking rhythm and a penalty 15m from the Moor goal line was quickly tapped to give the back row an opportunity to charge through and advance the score. 32” TRY ECCLES (Thornton) Conv (Simpson) 19-5.
Moor were now struggling to hold on to possession and when the ball was fumbled on the wing, the Eccles Stand Off rounded off an outstanding first half performance by kicking the loose ball up field and outpacing the fullback to score; adding the extras with an excellent conversion in the wind. 39” TRY ECCLES (Simpson) Conv (Simpson) 26-5.
HT 26-5
Eccles began the second half in the same style as they had finished the first half - firing on all cylinders and with the Stand Off scoring. 41” TRY ECCLES ( Simpson ) Conv ( Simpson) 33-5 .
Heaton Moor struggled to cope with the heat of the Eccles attack and ruck speed. Thornton, Campbell, Manzanares and Spooner were enjoying their work punching holes through the defensive line and close handling between the forwards inside the 22 soon produced the next points for the hosts. 48” TRY ECCLES (Aspinall) Conv (Simpson) 40-5.
Not to be out done the Eccles back line were revelling in their breaks up the wings and a free flowing move was finished by the Milky Bar Kid who burst through a tackle, stepped inside a second defender and grounded the ball behind the posts. 52” TRY ECCLES (Talbot Dutton) Conv ( Simpson) 47-5.
At the restart, an exit kick from Eccles was charged down and Moor were quick to seize possession and score (47-12) but this only served to set up the next Eccles attack by winger Talbot-Dutton who, using his skills at speed, was roared on by the crowd as he outpaced and outmanoeuvred the opposition on the left wing, swerving inside to offload to the supporting Parkinson who fumbled the ball 5m from the goal line. Eccles introduced thier replacements around 50 minutes and momentumn was lost. With 60 minutes played Moor constructed a well worked try following a series of penalties (47-17). Eccles appeared to be coasting until the game entered the last 10 minutes when Simpson shifted gear to spark his team back to life, evading a tackle to break free of the Eccles 22. On reaching the halfway line he passed outside to the supporting Evans, the ball was offloaded to Parkinson and in turn the Milky Bar Kid who surged through the gap to score his second, in the corner. A wonderful piece of running rugby. 72” TRY ECCLES ( Talbot Dutton) 52-5.
Eccles ran riot in the last few minutes scoring twice more in quick succession, the first coming from a terrific break from the forwards with Cox taking the ball towards the corner and Ackers-Johnson using his footwork and strength to finish by the flag, taking his tally for the season to 16 tries. 76” TRY ECCLES (Ackers-Johnson) 57-17.
The dominant performance was topped off by the tight head who charged through at close range to score behind the posts, and Simpson fittingly had the final word with his conversation being the last event of play. 79” TRY ECCLES (Campbell) conv (Simpson) 64-17.
FT 64-17
An enjoyable game in windy conditions with Greg Wilson making a return to the Eccles line up playing at centre and contributing 20 tackles to his account. Heaton Moor worked hard but Eccles were too strong and blew away the vistors with a Bonus-Point win which keeps title ambitions alive with three games remaining.
Eccles: Reed, Cox (c), Campbell, Manzanares, Cunningham, Spooner, Thornton, Cullen; Long, Simpson, Ackers-Johnson, Candland, Wilson, Fortune, Parkinson. Replacements Aspinall, Booth, Talbot-Dutton.
Photos by Phil Saunders Hall.
