Sat 12 Oct 2024, 15:00
On a miserable wet and windy afternoon, Widnes secured another well deserved victory at Gorton Street to keep Eccles hovering above the bottom of the Regional 2 North West Table.
Eccles kicked off and made a positive start attacking the scoreboard end with a stiff wind blowing behind them. With a deep kick putting immediate pressure on the visitors in the opening seconds, Eccles had the first opportunity to open the scoring with a scrum 5 meters from the Widnes goal line but squandered this with an penalty, establishing a theme for the remainder of the half, with the Widnes defence laser-focused and the Eccles attack making errors and generally failing to take advantage of their possession in good positions.
Eccles kept play within the visitor's territory for the opening exchanges and at 6' had a second promising opportunity with line out on the 22. However, the catch and drive maul failed to make any progress as the Widnes #2 released his bind to steal the ball, the #3 smashed the Eccles scrum half into the ground and both avoided the referees’s attention allowing Widnes to escape with possession.
Despite the early play being inside their 22 it was Widnes who scored first when a series of missed midfeild tackles by Eccles proved costly and the scrum-half broke through a gap and touched down between the uprights, giving the visitors an easy conversation. 10’ TRY WIDNES (Hatton) CONV (Slater) 0-7.
Straight from the restart a deep kick into the Widnes 22 caused havoc, with Eccles ultimately regaining possession a few meters from the goal line with another 5m scrum. This set piece was successful and following some crisp passing from Jones and Speakman the Eccles centre charged through the Widnes defence to score between the sticks; converted by the stand off. 13’ TRY ECCLES (Candland) CONV (Speakman) 7-7.
For the next 15 minutes Eccles continued to apply pressure and the game remained inside the Widnes 22 where the visitor’s defence was resolute. After a sustained period of attacking and penalities, with the Widnes #14 shown a yellow card for a high tackle on Ackers Johnson a meter short of the goal line, Eccles failed to claim the second try they’d been toiling for and elected to kick to the sticks to edge ahead. 29’ PENALTY ECCLES (Speakman) 10-7.
More pressure followed from Eccles, the sun shone briefly, but the 13-man Widnes defence held firm. On 36’ Eccles were awarded with another penalty and this time decided to kick to the corner where the line out was successfully caught and Campbell peeled off the back of the maul with the ball and charged to score but was tackled and jackaled just short of the line and Widnes survived. Two minutes later, an Eccles pass in midfield was intercepted by the Widnes #12 who sped away on a 50-metre dash to the line where he dotted down between the posts for the easy extras. 39’ TRY WIDNES (Lawton) CONV (Salter) 10-14.
It had been a good first half of rugby, with Widnes ahead at the interval by virtue of fast breaks and a determined, dogged defense. Eccles had enjoyed the majority of possession, the pack had done well in the scrum and the game had been played for long periods in the Widnes 22 but they had been unable to cross the line, something they would be punished for in the second period when it was Widnes, with an increasingly strong wind behind them, who were able to keep play at the scoreboard end of the pitch.
HT 10-14
Things got off to a bad start for Eccles who, on receiving the ball at the restart, made errors in their 22 which were pounced upon by the Widnes #13 who was delighted seized the opportunity to intercept the ball and immediately extend the visitor’s lead. 41’ TRY WIDNES (Spencer) 10-19.
To add to the gloom for Eccles, the heavy rain turned to a hailstorm. With the elements in the favour of Widnes the home side were finding it increasingly difficult to build any kind of platform in the Widnes half of the field. The more Eccles tried to force the pace in an effort to get back on level terms, the more errors began to creep into their game. With the hosts under pressure inside their 22 and the rain hammering down, Eccles tempted fate by attempting to throw the ball about in front of their posts and once again the Widnes #13 happily intercepted a pass and skipped over the line between the sticks for his second try of the afternoon. A good score tarnished by a Widnes team mate who saw fit to celebrate by striking the head of an Eccles player. 53’ TRY WIDNES (Spencer) CONV (Slater) 10-26.
With 27 minutes left, there was still time for Eccles to respond but Widnes continued to make good decisions, used the elements to their advantage, kept play in the right areas of the field, and generally thrived on Eccles errors and bad decisions. It was a lacklustre second half performance from Eccles who were unable to launch any meaningful attacks and although the rain eventually abated there was no further change to the score.
Widnes, who began the day 1 point above Eccles, worked hard in defence, seized their chances and secured a comfortable bonus-point win to take them up to 5th place. Eccles, still struggling to overcome the loss of players to injury in the cup tie against Widnes in August, will need to become more ruthless and less careless when breaking down tough opponents if they are to compete in this division. They are presented with the perfect opportunity to do this next Saturday when they face Winnington Park at Gorton Street.
FT 10-26
