Sat 8 Nov 2025, 14:15
A 2-week break in fixtures did no favours for Eccles, who spurned the opportunity to extend their 5-game unbeaten run at the top of the table, with an error-prone performance against a determined Broughton Park who grabbed a last gasp victory to lift them off the bottom.
Broughton Park got the game underway on a beautiful sunny November afternoon, kicking to Eccles, who showed the first signs of carelessness, knocking on to gift the visitors a scrum inside the 22. From here Park moved the ball swiftly across the pitch for their centre to crash through at close range to score the opening points in the opening minutes.
2’ 0-7 TRY BP. CONV.
Eccles attempted to respond to their slumberous start, patiently searching for the gears that would progress a breakthrough. As the pressure built on Park a penalty to Eccles in the middle of the field was kicked to the corner for a line out, where a well executed catch and drive from the forwards provided Hooker Cox with a platform to break up the blindside and score in the left corner; converted by an accurate kick from Parkinson.
09’ 7-7 TRY ECCLES (Cox). CONV (W Parkinson).
Sadly this calm, composed, collective precision was all too brief for Eccles, who were distinctly disjointed as they toiled to gain some kind of fluidity in their hesitant, disorderly play. Hard running and clean distribution from fullback Mercer was a dependable instigator of the attack but play often broke down in the midfield where inaccurate passing and clumsy handling were a regular occurrence. Park, thriving on the Eccles errors, were playing with increasing confidence. At 18’ Longford intercepted the ball but then spilled it as he was tackled. The resulting scrum for Park inside the 22 lead to a late tackle on the wing and the visitors took the opportunity to kick the 3-points on offer to reclaim the lead.
19’ 7-10 PENALTY BP.
Eccles persevered with their high risk approach and, having regained possession at the restart, some bold attacking play and neat close passing between Fortune and Matt Parkinson released Ackers-Johnson to break through the Park defence on the right wing and powering into the corner before sweeping in to the posts to score.
22’ 14-10 TRY ECCLES (Ackers-Johnson). CONV (W Parkinson).
Eccles were ahead but not in control. In keeping with the end-to-end nature of the game, it was now Broughton Park’s turn to respond at the restart. A scrum for Park on the right and sloppy tackling from Eccles provided the visitors with a break across the pitch with an overload on the left resulting in a good try in the corner; the conversion kick skimming over the crossbar for the extras.
26’ 14-17 TRY BP. CONV.
Eccles continued to cause themselves problems with unforced errors and generally made hard work of keeping possession. However, play remained inside Park territory and a penalty to Eccles in midfield was kicked to the corner for a line out. The maul was successfully driven into the in-goal before Higginbottom and the ball fired out to the ground and the referee awarded a penalty try.
34’ 21-17 PENALTY TRY ECCLES.
With the game approaching the break Eccles maintained their attacking pressure but squandered the opportunity to increase their lead with a penalty inside the 22, with Fortune kicking the ball dead through the in-goal to allow Broughton Park to exit their territory with a 22-meter drop out. This lack of care and focus summed up an erratic, frantic first half performance for Eccles who would need to improve their composure and accuracy if they were to take control of the close contest.
HT 21-17.
Eccles made changes at the interval, with Russell replaced by Cunningham in the pack and Cullen replaced by Long at scrum-half whose vocal encouragements had a positive influence when the hosts began the second half under defensive pressure as the penalty count against Eccles began to mount.
Defying their league position, Park were playing confident rugby, with former Eccles players Gelling #9 and Murphy #10 both making notable contributions on their return to Gorton Street. On 50’ a dangerous counter-attacking break up the wing from the visitors required Ackers-Johnson to make an excellent and essential tackle, forcing his man into touch. From the resulting line out Eccles moved the ball swiftly through Fortune and Candland across the pitch where Mercer’s strong running made good yards into Park territory before the final erroneous pass gave possession back to the visitors who took their opportunity to counter attack. Murphy, who had been testing Eccles with his kicking through the defensive line opted instead to run the ball infield and slotted his fullback through a yawning gap between the Eccles props to score a fine try to the side of the posts.
52’ 21–24 TRY BP. CONV.
The Eccles response was spearheaded by Candland, breaking through from deep, fending off two tackles in the centre and driving the attack out of his own half. Switching direction he hit a diagonal line across the field before offloading to Simpson on his shoulder, who burst through the middle to carry the momentum of the charge forward . The ball was offloaded and swiftly moved through the hands of Fortune, Longford and Cox across the pitch out to the right where, with Spooner in support, Ackers-Johnson evaded the desperate tackles to speed in to the corner and scooter in to the posts to score. The best rugby of the game from Eccles.
56’ 28-24 TRY ECCLES (Ackers-Johnson). CONV (W Parkinson).
With the 4-point lead reclaimed, calm heads may have restored composure and taken control of the game but Eccles instead cut loose their own brand of marauding mayhem and a free running chaotic last quarter was the result, where Eccles’ handling often hampered their desire to play at an urgent pace.
Ackers-Johnson sparked an exciting charge forward when he caught the ball deep in Eccles territory and set off on a weaving run through the field into the Park 22 and his offload to Fortune looked to have set up an Eccles try until the final wayward pass out to the wing prevented Parkinson’s progress to the corner.
Minutes later the attacking momentum of a quick tap penalty was wasted when Long, eager to spread play out wide, flighted the ball to the toes of the advancing Cunningham who was unable to hold on to possession and the game moved back into Eccles territory, where Mercer’s dynamic running from deep put the hosts back on the front foot, but once again errors at critical moments continued to undo their attacking efforts.
As the game entered the last 10’ Eaton replaced Burdon at prop as Eccles looked to increase the energy of their play. This positive move was instantly negated when Longford was sent to the bench for a high tackle near the halfway line and Eccles had to complete the game with 14 men.
71’ YELLOW CARD ECCLES (Longford)
Despite their numerical disadvantage, Eccles were able to keep play inside Park territory. On 74' a 15-meter scrum inside the Park 22 offered Eccles the opportunity of an unpredictable strike up the blindside with Ackers-Johnson, which was ignored in favour of crashing through the centre which the visitors were able to soak up.
At 76’ Eccles broke through the middle, with Simpson again carrying the charge. With strong carries building the pressure on Park inside their 22 a penalty to Eccles at 78’ provided the hosts with the opportunity to calmly collect the easy points. This was dismissed by Long who opted for the hurried quick tap which was fumbled.
At 79’ Eccles had another chance to secure the win with the forwards pounding away in front of the Park posts but possession was turned over 5 meters from the goal line and the visitors were able to escape with a kick to touch. From here Park mounted a swift counter attack to the other end of field and, somewhat inevitably, scored with a quick pick and go from the ruck in front of the posts to snatch a dramatic victory with the last play of the match.
80’ 28-31 TRY BP. CONV.
FT 28-31
Broughton Park battled to the end, made good decisions and took every opportunity presented to them. Eccles failed to take control of the game and failed to take their chances. There were moments of admirable individual skill and some good running rugby played, but over all the collective Eccles performance was below the standard reached in recent games. The loosing bonus points keep Eccles on top of the table by a narrow margin and they now face yet another fixture break to work on how they put it right in their next match, away at New Brighton on 22nd November.
Eccles team: Simpson, Cox, Burdon, Coop, Higginbottom, Spooner, Russell, Longford; Cullen, Fortune (C); Ackers-Johnson, Candland, M Parkinson, W Parkinson, Mercer. Replacements Eaton, Cunningham, Long.
Up at Powderhouse Lane, Eccles 2XV also fought back from a poor start to take the lead against Vale of Lune but failed to take their chances and succumbed to a late score to finish all square. 31-31.
