Sat 18 Jan 2025
A game of penalties occasionally interrupted by rugby.
A cold, dry afternoon and a warm welcome greeted those who made the journey to Burrows Hill. Call ups from the 2XV for Hession, Russell and Chiriseri; starting selections for Bates and Aitken and Houghton returning to the back row, saw Eccles run out with new line up in a new green shirt looking to reverse the 29-34 defeat at Gorton Street in October, when an escalating penalty count was to prove decisive. With a single point separating the teams at the bottom of the table, a close contest was expected.
Eccles made a poor kick off, Park received the ball and within seconds were awarded a penalty, thereby establishing a pattern of stop-start play that continued for the whole game. Read, Candland and Mercer made good progress carrying the ball back into Park territory but these early forays were halted by a solid defence. With regular penalties and poor handling from both teams, the players pounded away at each other condensing the contest to the middle of the field and the game did not move far from the halfway line in the opening minutes. When play finally spread to the wing, eagerness to get his hands on the ball saw Fortune sent to the bench for his attempted interception.
7’ ECCLES YELLOW (Fortune).
Park were now making ground with strong carries from their forwards who won the first scrum against the head. Eccles had to soak up pressure on their 22 but excellent Jackal technique from Houghton regained possession. The ball was kicked back to the halfway line but the resulting line-out was knocked on and Park returned play back to the Eccles 22 where another penalty gave Park the opportunity to kick to the corner and the line-out catch and driving maul delivered the opening score.
11’ 7-0 PARK TRY. CONV.
Eccles made a decent restart and entered the Park 22. A penalty was awarded to Eccles who promptly wasted this opportunity by kicking the ball out of the in-goal. Failure to find touch from kicking and making the most of their chances became a recurring theme for Eccles who toiled away between the stoppages. Read was unlucky not to score when he kicked and chased a loose ball into the in-goal. Fortune returned to the pitch and another Jackal from Houghton on the Park 22 kept the pressure on the hosts. From the penalty Eccles took the tap and the lock took his opportunity to power through and score in the corner.
17’ 7-5 ECCLES TRY (Hulbert).
Following the restart Park won a penalty and kicked to touch for a line-out on the Eccles 22. The ball was moved across the pitch where the Eccles defence forced a handling error from the winger. All these knock ons were of little advantage to Eccles who were struggling to cope with the Park scrum. The ball was retained by Eccles but then spilled as they attempted to run it out from inside their 22, with Russell smashed in the process and Park seizing the opportunity to attack down the left wing, where the prop crashed through to score in the corner.
20’ 12-5 PARK TRY.
Eccles continued to struggle and wrestle through the remainder of the half, their momentum shackled by a high error count, inaccurate line-out throwing and a solid Park defence. Penalties and scrums kept the disjointed game for the most part around the halfway line. With 30 minutes played Mercer used his speed and tenacity to take the game directly into the Park 22 where a high tackle on Hession gave Eccles a kickable penalty, spurned in favour of playing quickly before they were in shape to do so. Burdon deftly side-stepped a tackle to carry the ball towards the posts but his attempted offload lost possession in a great position. A penalty against Park at the next scrum set up Bates who was unable to hold on to the slim opportunity afforded to him. At 33 minutes Chiriseri replaced the injured Russell in the back row and the game moved back into Eccles territory. Just before the interval, Eccles lost the ball at their own scrum inside their 22. Park attacked towards the corner and were initially stopped short of the line before appearing to pick up and ground a good try but the referee disagreed and brought the half to a close.
HT 12-5.
At the break Eccles replaced the injured Hession with Murphy. Park got the second half underway, won the ball and attacked Eccles with strong carrying into the 22 but possession was lost in contact with a strong tackle from Spooner. Candland, now operating at Fly-Half, picked up the loose ball, burst free and ran 75m through the chasing Park defence to score at the side of the posts. The conversation missed.
42’ 12-10 ECCLES TRY (Candland).
Park responded to this set back. Jones used effective kicking to clear the Eccles lines and set up a counter attack but the promising charge upfield was dealt with by the host's defence. Soon after the Park prop made a strong carry into the Eccles half. Eaton found himself on the wrong side of the ruck and was sent to the bench. A decisive event. Park kicked the penalty to extend their lead.
46’ ECCLES YELLOW (Eaton). 15-10 PARK PENALTY.
Park were now driving home the advantage of their strong ball carrying and extra man, pounding the Eccles defence. On 48 minutes the injured Booth was replaced by Cox. Fortune successfully stopped a try in the corner but the pressure was building on Eccles. On 55 minutes Park were awarded a penalty inside the 22, opted for the scrum, drove Eccles backwards and passed the ball out to the wing for a score in the corner.
55’ 20-10 PARK TRY.
Eccles made another poor restart, failing to kick the distance. A park scrum on the halfway line got the game underway and Eccles struggled to both win and retain the ball, leading to more scrums. On 60 minutes, Eccles broke out of defence, attacking up the wing into the Park 22 but the lovely offload from Read to put Mercer clean through to score was ruled as forward by the match official. Park continued to play to their strengths to keep the game inside Eccles territory. Read intercepted the ball and broke upfield but another decision against him resulted in another penalty for Park inside the 22 which they ran and, when initially stopped by Eccles a few meters short, they picked up to power over the line to score.
69’ 27-10 PARK TRY. CONV.
Eccles attempted to respond and despite the regular disruptions and stoppages, played some of their best rugby of the game, only for handling to let them down at the vital moments as they closed in on the try line. An Eccles driving maul in the corner appeared to be pulled down by Park a few meters from the line but the referee disagreed and ruled a scrum to the hosts. Undeterred, Eccles turned over possession and Fortune weaved through the tackles to score in the corner with 2 minutes remaining.
78’ 27-15 ECCLES TRY (Fortune)
Eccles held onto the ball at the restart and built an attacking platform outside the Park 22. With scrum-half Jones looking to play quickly he appeared to be infringed at the ruck but the match official disagreed and brought the game to its conclusion. Four tries and good kicking to three tries delivered a well earned win for Winnington Park who move above Eccles in the table. Next week, Eccles must make the return journey to face neighbours Northwich for another crucial game.
FT 27-15
Eccles Team: 1 Jack Burdon (C) 2 Ross Eaton # 3 James Aitken 4 Nick Spooner # 5 Ross Hulbert 6 Matty Houghton # 7 Harvey Russell # 8 Henry Booth 9 Llew Jones 10 Gaz Hession # 11 Tom Bates # 12 Harry Candland # (VC) 13 Byron Reed 14 Chris Fortune 15 Marcus Mercer. Replacements 16 Fin Cox 17 Wesley Chiriseri # 18 Harry Murphy.
