Sat 22 Nov 2025, 14:15
Eccles made a rare trip out to Wirral on Saturday and received a warm welcome at New Brighton, where a six-try bonus point win was enough to keep them top of the Counties 1 table.
Eccles last made the journey to New Brighton in 2018 when a closely contested 7-17 victory helped Eccles on their way to promotion from the old Lancs/Cheshire Division 2. This season’s stop-start campaign hit a bump in the road with a defeat to Broughton Park where Eccles struggled to get going following a fortnight fixture break. Following another gap in games, Eccles showed their eagerness not to repeat that poor start and got off to a flyer with all engines firing. From the kick off Cullen caught the ball and set it in motion across the field. Possession was moved swiftly, passing through every pair of hands as Eccles moved play from coast to coast, stretching New Brighton, and ultimately finishing the move with the opening score from Matt Parkinson in the corner in the opening minutes; conversion missed.
3’ TRY ECCLES (M Parkinson) 0-5.
For the next 10 minutes, New Brighton had the greater share of possession as they responded with a sustained attack, where Eccles demonstrated their power in the scrum twice driving the hosts backwards and Ackers-Johnson contributed two strong tackles on his wing with vocal encouragements from Mercer on his shoulder. As the tackle count increased, the rucks became messier and a penalty was awarded to New Brighton who kicked to the corner. The first line out was not contested by Eccles and the catch and drive maul failed, but a second penalty and line out gave New Brighton a second chance and their patient pick and go resulted in a good try scored in the corner.
12’ TRY NEW BRIGHTON 5-5.
Eccles compounded their problems with a poor restart with Fortune’s kick failing to reach the 10. Once again the Eccles forwards were the dominant force driving New Brighton back in the scrum but the hosts were able to scramble the ball out and launched a deep kick to the corner where it was pouched perfectly by Will Parkinson. His decision to run infield took him into trouble and a slow ruck clear out presented New Brighton with a penalty in front of the posts, which was slotted to claim the lead.
15’ PENALTY NEW BRIGHTON 8-5.
At the restart Fortune opted to kick deep and this decision immediately paid off with a line out to Eccles in the corner. With the ball caught and secured, Hooker Cox had the platform he needed to dart in up the blindside and scooter in towards the posts to score.
17’ TRY ECCLES (Cox) CONV (W Parkinson) 8-12.
Cox continued his good work at the restart, distributing the ball to release Mercer who broke through the field and charged into the New Brighton half before offloading inside to Simpson, who carried the attack into the centre. From the breakdown Eccles moved play out to Ackers-Johnson on the wing where foul play resulted in a penalty and a line out in the corner. The driving maul looked destined to deliver another score to Eccles before progress was halted by the whistle, the visitors were then walked back 10 meters for dispute and the resulting line out on the halfway line provided more confusion and another penalty. Disrupted by stoppages, the game lost its flow and both teams toiled to regain some continuity in their play. Perseverance paid off for Eccles with Cullen and Burdon combining to drive an attack into the New Brighton 22, from here the ball was moved quickly across the pitch to Candland and a switch of direction back inside to Mercer who unlocked the door with great footwork and cut through to score to the side of the posts; the seamingly straight-forward conversion missed.
25’ TRY ECCLES (Mercer) 8-17.
For the next 15 minutes, New Brighton fought back and Eccles were restrained to their own territory, with a lack of urgency and sloppiness at the breakdowns contributing to their general confinement. The Eccles pack continued their faultless work in the scrum and line out but elsewhere, other than a break by Candland through the middle and a break by Ackers-Johnson up the wing and a loose ball skirmish on the halfway line, there were few highlights of note as the game wrestled its way to the interval between the penalties.
HT 8-17
Reinvigorated by the break and replacements (Connor for Cunningham, Oates for Matt Parkinson) Eccles fired into life straight from the restart. Fly-Half Fortune sparked the attack with a pass to Will Parkinson, the loose ball was recovered and moved out to the wing where Ackers-Johnson found space to put the burners on and he broke free into the New Brighton half, where he out paced three defenders, scorching outside the last man to score an outstanding try, sweeping in to the posts to dot down.
41’ TRY ECCLES (Ackers-Johnson) CONV (W Parkinson) 8-24
Less than outstanding was the Eccles response at the restart, with ruck sloppiness and poor discipline with a penalty awarded, then a further 10 for kicking the ball away. Eccles recovered and Mercer made an exciting break with smart deep kick to the backfield corner and Ackers-Johnson speeding up in support to put the pressure on New Brighton, forcing them to play out of their 22. The Eccles backs were now beginning to click, and the Mercer Candland centre partnership in particular showing promise, but once again slow clear outs and complaints cost Eccles yardage, effectively inviting the hosts into a scoring position, with a scrum centre field. From here the charge to the corner looked to be covered until Oates found himself mismatched tackling a giant and New Brighton powered over to score in the corner.
53’ TRY NEW BRIGHTON. CONV. 15-24
Spooner demonstrated expert Jackal technique to put Eccles back on the front foot inside the New Brighton Half. From here the kick to touch and another well executed line out gave Eccles a driving maul which made good progress to the 22, until the first of a sequence of penalties tested their discipline as play was incrementally moved backwards into Eccles territory for a New Brighton scrum inside the 22 followed by a another penalty for not releasing, in front of the posts, which was kicked. Props Simpson and Cunningham exhanged.
60’ PENALTY NEW BRIGHTON. CONV. 18-24
Eccles responded with 10 mins of flowing, running rugby - controlled, precise, ruthless - with the sustained attacking pressure delivering two tries in quick succession; the first from Forwards graft with Connor Longford capping off a barnstorming performance dotting down at the base.
65’ TRY ECCLES (Longford) 18-29
The next coming from a crafty backs break that released Mercer to burst through the midfield. His kick ahead resulted in a 22-drop out for New Brighton but Eccles returned the ball with interest, with Pears carrying hard into the line and once play moved out wide to the coast, Candland used terrific footwork at close range to weave his way through to score.
71’ TRY ECCLES (Candland) CONV (Parkinson) 18-36
For the last 10 minutes, Eccles were occupied mostly inside their own half. Spooner and Coop continued to dominate the line out and with the game inside the Eccles 22 in the final minutes the Eccles forwards wrapped up a solid afternoon’s work securing the ball in the air and forming a maul to set up the exit and see out the game, only for the backs to fumble the ball in front of the goal line, presenting New Brighton with the opportunity to capitalise, pick it up and score.
80’ TRY NEW BRIGHTON. CONV. 25-36
Despite the disruption of penalties this was a much improved performance from Eccles with some really good phases of play. The six tries and three conversions was just enough points difference to stay in top spot. However, conceding last play scores is becoming a reacurring theme and something Eccles will want to address alongside their kicking accuracy, in time for their fixture, Tarleton at home, Saturday 29th November.
FT 25-36
Eccles team: Simpson, Cox, Burdon, Cunningham, Pears, Coop, Spooner, Longford. Cullen, Fortune. Ackers-Johnson, Candland, Mercer, M Parkinson, W Parkinson. Replacements Eaton, Connor, Oates.
