Sat 28 Feb 2026
Eccles secured a much-needed 26-48 bonus point win over Broughton Park on Saturday, being made to work hard before pulling clear early in the second half.
Back in November, Eccles had squandered several opportunities in a 28-31 defeat to a determined Broughton Park who took the lead in the opening minutes and seized a match-winning try in the final seconds.
Once again, Broughton Park got the game underway on a sunny afternoon, kicking to Eccles, who showed early signs of carelessness, failing to break out of their 22 with the ball and failing to find touch with a penalty kick, inviting a Park to grow in confidence and build pressure. White, selected at #7 for Eccles, detected the danger and flew out of the defensive line to make a terrific tackle on Broughton Park #10 Murphy. Soon after a midfield scrum for Park gave the hosts the opportunity to strike up the wing, where some weak tackling out wide contributed to Park running through Eccles and scoring in the corner; converted.
9’ 7-0 TRY BP. CONV.
Eccles responded to their slumbering start, building patiently as they searched for a passage through the middle, with Mercer, Dodd, Longford, Pears and Burdon breaking through only for possession to be lost at crucial breakdowns. With Park doggedly defending their territory, Eccles attempted to switch direction of play, with Fortune and Wright alternating at stand off to build up a dozen phases of play until eventually a penalty provided the opportunity for Eccles to kick for a line out inside the 22. A successful driving maul, with Cox steering the attack from the back, carried possession towards the goal line. Another penalty resulted in a 5m Eccles scrum and a strong drive saw Longford control the ball at the base to score from the push over. Conversion missed.
18’ 7-5 TRY ECCLES (Longford).
Park responded from the restart, earning a penalty which was successfully kicked to touch for line out. Eccles regained possession but were too laboured in getting the ball out to the edges where Ackers-Johnson would often find himself with too little space to work in or outnumbered by defenders. The breakthrough in the tight contest eventually came from Spooner bursting through the middle, his strong carry was advanced by fullback Mercer hurtling deep into the Park 22, wriggling out of the tackles to ultimately result in a penalty for Eccles. A second 5m scum delivered a repeat of the earlier strong drive from the pack and Longford scored his second identical try from the push over. Converted by Parkinson.
28’ 7-12 TRY ECCLES (Longford) CONV (Parkinson).
Park continued to make Eccles work hard for possession and points. The promising spark of a counter attack on the right wing was extinguished with Parkinson holding on to the ball when the eager hands of Ackers-Johnson were waiting outside him. Flowing running rugby was in short supply. At one point Eccles totalled 18 phases of play, until a penalty against Park returned the hosts to their 22. A scrum was called by the Eccles captain and Spooner was unfortunate to be denied from scoring in the corner. A yellow card was shown to the Broughton Park Hooker and a third Eccles 5m scrum resulted in a third try for the visitors when #8 Longford picked up from the back and offloaded to #9 Tim Cullen to score from close range in the corner. The missed conversion kick was the last play of the half.
39’ 7-19 TRY ECCLES (Cullen).
HT 7-19.
Eccles were re-energised by the interval and made a dynamic start to the second half, scoring from their first attack with the centre powering through to the line to secure the bonus point. Converted.
41’ 7-24 TRY ECCLES (Dodd) CONV (Parkinson).
Flankers Luke Cullen and Olly White continued to make a nuisance of themselves, regularly putting the Park stand off and first receiver under pressure. Substitutions (Campbell for Cunningham, Manzanares for Spooner) were made to keep the Eccles pack on the front foot and industry from the forwards helped to open the defensive curtain for Tim Cullen who found Burdon charging into the space in front of the posts, 15 meters out, before it closed shut around the prop. A 5m scrum was awarded, Park attempted to run the ball out of their in-goal but White was alert to the opportunity and pounced on the loose ball to score. The conversion missed but otherwise Eccles were in control.
50’ 7-29 TRY ECCLES (White).
Injuries for Broughton Park meant a switch to uncontested scrums, removing a major factor in Eccles dominance. Further substitutions were made in an attempt to adapt (Russell for Dodd, Spooner for Burdon) as Park began to gain a foothold in the game, making good use of their speed out wide with an excellent cross field kick to the corner from Murphy #10, to put in the fullback to score a fine try, converted and celebrated by the home support in the stand.
58’ 14-29 TRY BP. CONV.
The Eccles response was initiated by Manzanares, with an expert jackal to seize possession on the Park 22. Mercer and Parkinson combined to attack into the corner but the ball was lost and Eccles worked hard to keep play inside the red zone with Cox ultimately finding Pears in space and the lock charged in from close range to score Eccles’ sixth try behind the posts.
62’ 14-36 TRY ECCLES (Pears) CONV (Parkinson).
In the last 20 minutes the sun came out, the game opened up and although it was not free flowing rugby there was more space available for those who had pace. Russell made an exciting break through the middle into the Park 22 but support was too slow arriving at the breakdown and the opportunity was lost. Shortly after Park made a break through the #13 channel near the halfway line and the centre could not be caught and scored between the uprights, for a strightforward conversion.
66’ 21-36 TRY BP. CONV.
Once again it was the work rate of the pack that regained authority for Eccles, with Cox and Manzanares often involved in the drives into Park territory. White was quick to pounce upon misplaced passing from the hosts and Longford was unfortunate not to add to his points tally with a pick and drive from the back of a scrum . On 70’ Dodd replaced Wright alongside Luke Cullen in the centre and made an instant impact, following a Spooner steal in a Park line-out, breaking through the defence to be stopped just short of glory. Fortune, who had played efficiently throughout the game, popped a gentle pass to White in the 13 channel and the openside capped off a man of the match performance crashing over to score his second. Conversion missed.
73’ 21-41 TRY ECCLES (White).
Straight from the restart, Eccles launched an attack and some neat offloading out wide saw Parkinson slip through to score the eighth try and convert.
76’ 21-48 TRY ECCLES (Parkinson) CONV (Parkinson).
Not for the first time tihs season, Eccles switched off in the final minutes and good passing and speed from the Broughton Park backline resulted in a try scored in the corner as the last play of the match.
80’ 26-48 TRY BP.
FT 26-48.
An entertaining, clean game, well run by referee Mr Morgan Spark. Broughton Park, now fighting to avoid relegation, made things difficult for Eccles and battled to the very end. Eccles could not get their flowing running rugby mojo going and will be dispointed in their kicking accuracy and failure to close out the game, however with the forwards making big contributions in attack they found a way to win. With inconsistent form through the winter, this result gives Eccles its first back-to-back victory since November and a platform on which to build a strong finish to the season with six big games to come.
Next Saturday, Eccles will be looking to continue their winning momentum, and close the gap on 2nd place, when they face New Brighton at Home in a 3pm Kick Off.
Eccles team: Cunningham, Cox (C), Burdon, Spooner, Pears, L. Cullen, White, Longford. T. Cullen, Fortune (VC). Ackers-Johnson, Wright, Dodd, Parkinson, Mercer. Replacements: Campbell, Manzanares, Russell.
