Sat 13 Dec 2025, 14:15
The last meeting between between the teams at Gorton Street, in January 2024, had seen Eccles build a 15-point lead before loosing their grip on the game in the second half, with the Warrington backs presenting a counter attacking threat as the penalty count began to rise and Eccles held on for a 26-23 win to maintain their push for promotion that season. The league form of both teams so far this season suggested this could be a similarly close contest with a high-scoring Warrington arriving off the back of a win against Aspull and Eccles looking for a positive response to their defeat at Wilmslow last week.
In response to notable absences, Eccles lined up with White at 8, Oates at fullback, Holland on the wing - and it was the Dutchman who seized his opportunity straight from the kick off, as Warrington attempted to run the ball from their 22, with a perfectly timed interception of the 10’s pass to the fullback, breaking clean through to open the scoring in the first minute to the side of the posts; the straightforward conversion missed.
1’ 5-0 TRY ECCLES (Holland).
Warrington responded to this set back immediately with a deep kick, resulting in an Eccles knock-on in front of the posts. Eccles successfully defended the 5m scum forcing a Warrington knock-on. The clearing kick from this 5m scrum was charged down inside the in-goal and from a third 5m scrum the Warrington number 8 eventually crashed through to score to the side of the posts; Converted.
5’ 5-7 TRY WARRINGTON (Fleming) CONV (Hudson).
At the restart Warrington attempted some exploratory kicking behind the lines without success. Eccles deployed pistons at pace and good progress was made into Warrington territory, with waves of forwards coming on to quick ball, building sustained pressure on the determined tackling until the inevitable offside penalty in the midfield presented Eccles with a line out inside the 22. With possession secured the ball was moved inside from the maul by Long to stand off Fortune who opened up the defence, slipping between the 9 and 10 to score at the side of the posts; Converted.
15’ 12-7 TRY ECCLES (Fortune) CONV (Parkinson).
Eccles further increased the tempo of their work with Holland kicking ahead to earn a scrum from a knock-on inside the Warrington half. Between scrums, industrious back rows Coop and White were seemingly everywhere and involved in everything. Good momentum was generated by the pack in attack, with Long recycling the ball quickly, Pears offering both power and dexterity and Spooner driving through the lines almost to glory, setting up Cox to crash over the line at close range; judged to be held up by match official Mr Amor. From the resulting 5m scrum Eccles applied the pressure, where once again fast ball and some great angles of running saw Fortune side step the Warrington 10 to score between the sticks; The straightforward conversion hit the post.
22’ 17-7 TRY ECCLES (Fortune).
Warrington responded immediately at the restart, earning a scrum outside the 22 from an Eccles knock-on; good passing between the fly-half and fullback benefited the winger who scored in the corner. Minutes later the visitors were given the opportunity to capitalise on another Eccles error with a penalty awarded in front of the posts.
26’ 17-12 TRY WARRINGTON (L Turner).
28’ 17-15 PENALTY WARRINGTON (Hudson).
Eccles compounded these errors with a restart kick that did not reach the 10m. From the scrum Warrington kept Eccles inside their territory, kicking behind the defensive line to the corner and earning a penalty for obstruction. The shot missed the sticks, Mercer caught the ball and made a terrific break out of the 22 but the promise of this counter attack and the ball was lost with an audacious offload in the tackle. Pears regained possession at the line out and a solid carry from him followed by a solid boot from Candland eventually took play upfield, back into Warrington territory, where Eccles tested the visitor’s dogged defence of their 22.
With the game in the balance as it approached half-time, the Warrington centre broke up field from a scrum inside his 22. Candland almost rescued the situation with a fine tackle just outside the Eccles 22 but the ball was recycled quickly through the scrambling defence and offloaded to the 12 who cut through at speed to score, giving the visitors the lead in the last play of the half.
40’ 17-22 TRY WARRINGTON (Kellet) CONV (Hudson).
HT 17-22
Eccles began the second half making good progress with the forwards and quick recycling until the ball was spilled inside Warrington territory. From the Warrington scrum the ball was flung out to the right by the 10, shouts of “forward” ignored, and the game moved briefly into Eccles territory from where forwards and quick play once more moved the action back into Warrington territory until another knock-on delivered another scrum. This intriguing pendulum pattern of play was disrupted by the introduction of Eccles replacements (Cullen for Long, Russell for Coop, Wright for Parkinson with Fortune moving to the wing) and a kick upfield from Warrington with a penalty awarded against Eccles for an unknown reason and the visitors extended their advantage from the tee.
49’ 17-25 PENALTY WARRINGTON (Hudson).
At the restart a knock-on and scrum was awarded against Warrington for an unknown reason. Eccles moved play across the 22 to the right where Holland kicked a penalty to the corner and the forwards executed a catch and drive from the line out, with Spooner powering over from close range for the bonus-point fourth try to bring the game within 3 points; Conversion missed.
53’ 22-25 TRY ECCLES (Spooner).
Warrington looked to respond but play was stopped and a yellow card awarded against Eccles for what appeared to be innocuous contact with the Warrington 10.
55’ YELLOW CARD (Higginbottom).
An opportunity the visitors took full advantage of. From the penalty Warrington kicked into the 22 and from the resulting line out the winger scored in the corner.
57’ 22-30 TRY WARRINGTON (Carr).
The problems increased for Eccles when, minutes later, the quick Warrington 12 received the ball outside the 22 and raced through the gap in the centre to score his second try, between the posts; converted.
59’ 22-37 TRY WARRINGTON (Kellet) CONV (Hudson).
This disastrous 10 minute period was capped off when Eccles knocked-on at a line out inside the Warrington half. From the resulting scrum, the Warrington scrum-half picked up from the back and slipped up the blindside to dash 60 meters to the Eccles goal line, where he was tackled just short and a supporting teammate was on hand to finish off the break away to score; Converted.
65’ 22-44 TRY WARRINGTON (Evans) CONV (Hudson).
Eccles rallied but were forced to build from deep when an unpredictable bounce from a kick gave the visitors a 50/22. The Warrington defence soaked up the sustained pressure applied on them, until the Eccles backs executed some superb running rugby, initiated by the spearhead of Holland out on the right advanced by a big carry from Burdon with the point of attack switched by Cullen and Wright, though the centre out to Mercer who fixed the Warrington 10 with a deft offload to Candland, speeding past the stand off on a great angle to score between the posts with four minutes remaining. Converted.
76’ 29-44 TRY ECCLES (Candland) CONV (Parkinson).
Warrington responded straight from the restart pinning Eccles inside their 22 as they attempted to carry the ball out. Effective kicking from the Warrington fly-half back into the 22 caused chaos in front of the goal line and the Warrington prop crashed through at short range to score in the corner. Converted.
79’ 29-51 TRY WARRINGTON (Green) CONV (Hudson)
There were enough seconds remaining for Eccles to earn and loose a line out inside the visitor's 22 and for the Warrington 10 to bring the game to a close by launching the ball over the neighbouring house and into the street beyond.
FT 29-51
Eccles team: James Cunningham #, Fin Cox (C) #, Jack Burdon, Cameron Higginbottom #, Scott Pears #, Martin Coop #, Nick Spooner #, Oliver White #. Sam Long, Chris Fortune (VC) #, Danny Holland #, Harry Candland #, Marcus Mercer, Will Parkinson #, Cameron Oates #. Replacements Tim Cullen #, James Wright#, Harvey Russell #.
Despite the loss Eccles put together some good passages of play and well worked tries. Recognising the weak point in the Warrington defence, Eccles had stormed to a 10-point lead in the first half, but were unable to sustain their momentum with handling and unforced errors presenting the visitors with regular opportunities to collect points. Warrington’s centres presented an attacking threat equal to Eccles' own and as the game approached the hour, there was not much between the teams, other than the penalty count which favoured the visitors. With Eccles reduced to 14 men in the middle of the second half Warrington took control with three quick scores to secure the victory and usurp Eccles in second place in Counties 1.
Similarly, after a seven-win start to the season, back to back defeats and cards this month have proven costly to Eccles 1XV, who will hopefully begin 2026 after the Christmas break with a reinvigorated squad when they face Trafford MV at Finny Bank Road on Saturday 3 January.
The 2XV and 3XV will both be in action at Gorton Street on Saturday 20th December.
