Sat 18 Apr 2026, 15:00
Eccles responded to recent defeats with an emphatic 14-try victory at Gorton Street on Saturday to move Sam Simpson's side back into the Counties 1 top four, effectively sealing the relegation of neighbours Trafford MV to Counties 2.
Eccles lined up in green shirts with some notable changes from the team that faced Warrington with Cox moving to Loosehead, Eaton, Pears and Connor in the front, second and back rows respectively; Holland alongside Brad White in the Centres and Parkinson returning at Fullback.
Eccles were in a ruthless mood playing with a high tempo straight from the kick off. Holland suffered a heavy blow in a tackle early in the game but recovered to play a full part in almost 30 minutes of all out attack as the home team took control. With 8 minutes played Brad White intercepted the ball with a single hand at the halfway line and ran it to the 22 before offloading to Ackers-Johnson outside to take it home and open the scoring; Converted by Parkinson.
8’ 7-0 TRY ECCLES (Ackers-Johnson) CONV (Parkinson).
There was hardly time to draw breath before Eccles were on the attack from the restart with a crash ball for Blindside Sion Vidal to break the line from 15 meters out and score the next points in the corner.
10’ 12-0 TRY ECCLES (Vidal).
Eccles were dominating possession with urgency and aggression at the breakdown allowing Cullen and Fortune to orchestrate the attacks. The Captain was clearly enjoying the pace and energy of the game and took his opportunity to break the line from 30 meters out, hand two defenders off and charge in to score between the sticks; converted.
17’ 19-0 TRY ECCLES (Cox) CONV (Parkinson).
MV made a concerted effort to respond at the restart and a tackle out wide was required to recover the situation. With possession regained Eccles counter attacked from deep with Spooner, Pears, Cox and Cullen combining to build swift momentum with some great running rugby in midfield disrupted with a penalty, which was booted upfield by White to the corner. From the slick line-out some sharp handling from Fortune and White opened the gate for Russell to break through and offload to Cox to score and secure the bonus point.
19’ 26-0 TRY ECCLES (Cox) CONV (Parkinson).
Eccles were in no mood to let their foot off the gas at the restart and more fluid rugby and good handling across middle from Longford and White released Ackers-Johnson out wide who powered away down the wing and swept inside to score his second of the match.
25’ 31-0 TRY ECCLES (Ackers-Johnson) CONV (Parkinson).
The rate and ease of scoring perhaps encouraged some complacency in Eccles who appeared to switch off for the next 10 minutes as Trafford MV rallied, earning a line-out in the corner and moving the ball from a driving maul across pitch, with a nice pass out the back to set up the winger to score in the corner.
30’ 31-5 TRY TMV.
Eccles attempted to respond, running the ball out of of their 22 but Ackers-Johnson was unable to gather the pass and Parkinson had to scramble to recover, grounding the loose ball inside the in-goal area. The resulting 5m scrum for MV was initially well marshalled by the Eccles defence but a neat side step opened the door for MV to score next to the posts and a straightforward conversion.
35’ 31-12 TRY TMV.
Eccles sharpened up and for the remainder of the half, the direction of play was reversed with Eccles attacking and Eaton, Connor, Spooner and Longford hungry for the ball. As the game approached the interval an offload from Vidal to Russell looked to have unlocked a score in the left corner. With possession regained the ball was recycled swiftly across pitch, out to the right, where Ackers-Johnson’s skills delighted the home support as he rode the tackles to break through and score a sublime try behind posts - his 37th of the season. Parkinson adding the conversion.
39’ 38-12 TRY ECCLES (Ackers-Johnson) CONV (Parkinson).
HT 38-12
At the break Rhys Connor, who had been tireless at Openside, was replaced with Luke Cullen and Holland was replaced with Hession as Eccles looked to maintain the energy of their play. Straight from the restart White demonstrated good decisions in defence to put Eccles on the front foot. Good passing between Fortune and Hession in midfield released Ackers-Johnson on the wing who charged into the 22 and offloaded in the tackle inside to Hession, arriving in the right place at the right time, to receive the ball 10 meters out and score to the delight of his team mates.
41’ 45-12 TRY ECCLES (Hession) CONV (Parkinson).
From the restart MV pressed Eccles to run the ball from deep and in a familiar move Spooner, Pears, Cox and Cullen once again combined to play some enjoyable flowing ruby until the inevitable penalty prevented progress. White kicked to the corner where the line out catch and drive was halted and possession lost with the Trafford MV #10 Booth making good use of his strong kicking to move play back to the halfway line. The visitors however miscalculated their line out, Cox picked up the loose ball and good handling released Fortune to glide through the gap and offload to Russell, powering up the flank. With interchanging roles Eccles shifted gear, Fortune cleared out, Parkinson at 9 fired the ball to Hession at 10 whose pass to Cox sent the captain charging through to score under posts.
49’ 52-12 TRY ECCLES (Cox) CONV (Parkinson).
Russell, having a good game on the left wing, was the catalyst for the next score, breaking across halfway line and making a well-timed offload to fullback Parkinson in close support, to run the ball in and score.
54’ 57-12 TRY ECCLES (Parkinson).
Connor replaced White. Pears collected the restart, offloading to Burdon who made good yards before earning a penalty for Eccles. From the resulting line out Cullen protected possession for Pears to charge through and offload to Eaton who looked destined to score in the corner before determined TMV tackling intervened, with Spooner completing the good work, spinning through the tackles from close range to score; Parkinson’s conversion going in off post.
57’ 64-12 TRY ECCLES (Spooner) CONV (Parkinson).
MV battled on in good spirits although their possession of the ball was now limited to restart kicks as the waves of Eccles attacks continued. Spooner and Pears combined on the halfway line to despatch Luke Cullen, breaking the line and running free to offload Fortune who floated through as if on a magic carpet to score between sticks.
60’ 71-12 TRY ECCLES (Fortune) CONV (Parkinson).
The attacking pressure on the visitors was relentless with the Eccles pack pushing MV off the ball at the next scrum to regain possession. Longford picked up at the base and made a strong drive up the short side before offloading to Russell who carried the attack forward. The ball was advanced by Connor bursting through with a brilliant break before being tackled short of the line, with Vidal on the spot to pick up and score from an entertaining passage of play.
64’ 78-12 TRY ECCLES (Vidal).
Eccles continued to hunt the ball and force errors from MV at the next restart, regaining possession and passing out wide to Ackers-Johnson who was wrapped up by the defence but Connor was again in close support to keep things moving and a crafty offload put Russell in to score the try his performance deserved.
69’ 83-12 TRY ECCLES (Russell) CONV (Parkinson).
The intensity and tempo eased in last 10 minutes of the game with forward passes to Burdon and Eaton, greeted with groans from the crowd, being the most memorable highlight. MV made a determined effort to finish the game attacking but were unable to hold onto posession once insde Eccles territory. As the clock ticked down Tim Cullen made an astute decision to kick behind the visitor's defensive line, with the Eccles chase and loose ball putting the Trafford MV fullback into trouble. From the quick tap penalty, Fortune found Cox who charged through from close range to score his fourth try of the afternoon. Parkinson added the conversion to complete the result.
80’ 90-12 TRY ECCLES (Cox) CONV (Parkinson).
FT 90-12
Eccles are now tied with Didsbury Toc H on 77 points with the opportunity to improve their final standing in the last game of the season, away at Aldwinians on Saturday 25th April.
Eccles team TMV: Cox (C), Eaton, Burdon, Spooner, Pears, Vidal, Connor, Longford. T Cullen, Fortune (VC). Ackers-Johnson, Holland, B White, Russell, Parkinson. Replacements: Cunningham, L Cullen, Hession.
