Sat 8 Feb 2025
Douglas ran out onto the Port-E-Chee pitch to a fanfare of Vuvuzela horns for this rescheduled fixture and the home supporters had plenty to celebrate in the opening minutes as the hosts put Eccles under pressure straight from the kick off. A scum just outside the 22, provided Douglas with an attacking platform and the winger used his pace to score in the corner; a low kick from out wide skimmed over the crossbar for the extras.
3’ 7-0 TRY DOUGLAS (Martin) CONV (Robson).
At the restart Eccles committed a high tackle penalty giving Douglas the opportunity to move play back inside Eccles territory. Booth, celebrating his 21st birthday, regained the ball briefly for Eccles who elected to run the ball from deep, expending a lot of energy but gaining very little territory in return against the Douglas pack and once the exit kick eventually came, Douglas were well positioned to pouch the ball and shift it out to the right where the winger chipped over Murphy and chased the ball into the corner to score.
9’ 12-0 TRY DOUGLAS (Martin).
A lack of Eccles pressure at the restart gave Douglas a comfortable break out from their territory, with their forwards lining up to carry and the ball was quickly shifted out wide to launch another attack, up the left flank, which was forced into touch. Eccles piled more pressure on themselves with inaccurate throwing at the line out and, once again from a scrum, Douglas moved the ball to the right wing before switching back inside where the fullback cut a clean line through to score to the side of the uprights.
15’ 19-0 TRY DOUGLAS (Cope) CONV (Robson).
Douglas were determined. Eccles, who not held the ball for more than a few seconds, were in disarray. Another poor restart with no pressure on the ball catcher allowed Douglas more possession and it would be 20 minutes on the clock before Eccles showed the first signs of their attacking capability when a short passing sequence saw Read break through the centre. Building momentum, a minute later Candland deployed the same offload to put Read through a gap into the Douglas 22, where Jones picked up quickly from the tackle and dispatched Ackers-Johnson out wide, who burst through to score at the side of posts.
22’ 19-7 TRY ECCLES (Ackers Johnson) CONV (Holland).
A penalty at 24’ for a high tackle gave Eccles the opportunity to kick deep into Douglas territory but this advantageous lineout position, and two more which followed, were all wasted with inaccurate throwing. On a positive note, Eccles were dominating the scrum and driving Douglas backwards, but even this good work was nullified when Coop was shown a yellow card for an inexplicable offside to cap off a calamatous opening 30 minutes for the visitors. From the resulting penalty, Douglas secured the lineout in the corner and with a solid maul the hooker powered through to score a 4th bonus-point try for the hosts.
30’ YELLOW ECCLES (Coop).
31’ 26-7 TRY DOUGLAS (Visagie) CONV (Robson).
Following another poor restart, Eccles were offered a reprise in the form of a scrum but possession was to be short lived. Douglas kicked dead at 37’ and Eccles opted for the scrum restart, which was won and then undone when, running the ball out of their 22, a ‘crossing’ penalty was awarded to Douglas and successfully kicked to put them comfortably ahead at the break.
39’ 29-7 PENALTY DOUGLAS.
HT 29-7
Eccles had plenty to put right and with replacements introduced (Russell on for Cunningham, Chiriseri on for Coop) began the second half playing with more energy and speed. For 10 minutes Eccles had the greater share of possession and looked to be more likely to score with Ayanjaja-Lowo unfortunate to knock on breaking through and Ackers-Johnson forced into touch inside the 22. However, a high tackle awarded against Eccles at 49’ gave Douglas the opportunity to kick for the line out and they wasted no time in launching a quick attack with the second row breaking through to score to the side of the posts.
50’ 36-7 TRY DOUGLAS (Cartwright). CONV (Robson).
Undeterred, Eccles attempted to respond. Spooner was unlucky not to prosper from a charge down and when Douglas number 8 Kirkpatrick was shown yellow at 55' for a high tackle Eccles took up occupancy inside the hosts half. Read limped off for treatment to be replaced by Bates in the centre and soon after, from a line out, neat passing from Holland and Bates across the field released Ackers-Johnson who fired through a stunned defence to score under the posts.
63’ 36-14 TRY ECCLES (Ackers Johnson) CONV (Holland)
Sensing the possibility of a turning point, Eccles were eager to attack straight from the restart, but in attempting to break out of their 22 a reckless pass to Spooner was knocked on and the Douglas Fullback picked up the ball and scored behind sticks.
66’ 43-14 TRY DOUGLAS (Cope) CONV (Robson).
Continuing the end to end events, slick passing from Eccles across the park once again released Ackers-Johnson who raced down the right wing to the corner for his third try of the afternoon before the Douglas Fullback made a dramatic illegal tackle around his neck and the match official awarded a Penalty Try and sent Cope to the bench.
71’ 43-21 PENALTY TRY ECCLES
In the last 10 minutes, Read returned to the pitch, Chiriseri and Ayanlaja-Lowo showed their back row pairing potential playing off each other’s shoulder and Simpson and Burdon continued put in a massive front row shift dominating the scrum late into the game. However, for all the effort expended, Eccles never recovered from their poor start and were unable to hold onto the ball for long enough to do any damage or close that 19 point gap. The match ran out of steam and finished without further score. It’s a long day for players to rise at 3am to travel for a game kicking off after 2pm but Douglas were gracious hosts and made the journey worthwhile. Eccles are fixed to the bottom of the table and will face league leaders Sandbach next week.
FT 43-21
Eccles team: 1 Sam Simpson #, 2 Jack Burdon, 3 James Cunningham #, 4 Martin Coop #, 5 Joe Wilkinson, 6 Damola Ayanlaja-Lowo #, 7 Nick Spooner, 8 Henry Booth, 9 Llew Jones, 10 Daniel Holland #, 11 Tim Balogun #, 12 Harry Candland # (VC), 13 Byron Reed, 14 Gavin Akers-Johnson, 15 Harrison Murphy. Replacements: 16 Harvey Russell, 17 Wesley Chiriseri #, 18 Tom Bates #.
