Sat 21 Feb 2026
In miserable weather on a slutchy pitch, a ruthless performance from Eccles on Saturday kept their league ambitions alive with a dominant 42-3 win over Aspull at Gorton Street.
Eccles form and results have been inconsistent through the winter with four defeats in the last seven games but this was a much improved display of decisive, cohesive, committed rugby, where Eccles dug deep, as a team, to regain their footing in a fixture that had proven to be a tough test back in September at Aspull when Eccles needed to wrestle for a 26-29 victory in a contentious contest.
Eccles did not make the best of starts. Following the kick off they were unable to exit their 22, the visitors mounted sustained pressure and a ruck penalty was awarded to Aspull in front of the posts.
2’ 0-3 PENALTY ASPULL
From here on, the scoring was all in the opposite direction as Eccles proved too quick and slick for the visitors, scoring five tries in the next 30 minutes.
Good pressure from the restart earned Eccles a penalty for holding on inside the Aspull 22. The ball was moved quickly across to the pitch and a forward pass to Ackers-Johnson out wide on the right, prevented the immediate progress to points. Undeterred, Eccles were soon back on the front foot with fullback Mercer catching the high ball cleanly, Candland combined with Parkinson to advance the attack up the left before offloading to Dodd at dead centre who burst at close range to score. Conversion missed.
5’ 5-3 TRY ECCLES (Dodd).
Eccles wasted little time in staging their next attack with a clean break initiated by strong running from Mercer, offloaded to Candland who slipped trough the gap and almost made the goal line before slow arriving support at the breakdown lost the opportunity. Once again it was a driving run through the middle from merciless Mercer, linking up with Burdon on the wing who charged into the 22. A penalty to Eccles was kicked to the corner for a line out, caught by Coop. Cullen took possession from Cox driving the maul and fired a pass to Fortune in the middle who whipped a fine pass out wide to Ackers-Johnson on the right and the evasive winger cut through like a knife to score.
11’ 12-3 TRY ECCLES (Ackers-Johnson) CONV (Parkinson).
Eccles were now finding their rhythm and had identified a path to success. In a similar move across the pitch out to the right hard running and precise passing found the winger, who swerved around the remaining defence with ease to finish a fine try.
18’ 19-3 TRY ECCLES (Ackers-Johnson) CONV (Parkinson).
Aspull were struggling to cope with this relentless pace. Eccles were focussed and accurate in their collective work and straight from the restart launched an attack, concluded by Ackers-Johnson offloading inside to his supporting fullback to score close to the posts.
20’ 26-3 TRY ECCLES (Mercer) CONV (Parkinson).
The visitors attempted to respond and for the next 10 minutes the game was competitive and open, with possession exchanging regularly in the now heavy rain, as both teams explored deep kicking as a method of moving play into each other’s territory on a pitch that was beginning to cut up. A goal line drop out by Eccles was knocked on and a dominant scrum provided a platform for an attack with the final pass out to the wing going astray. Play remained at the halfway line with the Eccles forwards engaged in two successful scrums to finally release Candland, breaking through the middle and nicely offloading to Ackers-Johnson who was hauled down by his neck inside the 22. The high tackle was awarded a penalty kick, this in turn lead to an Eccles 10m scrum and from here the ball was moved quickly to wing where Parkinson and Ackers-Johnson combined to set up Dodd, charging in on a diagonal line to score his second, behind the uprights. Converted.
33’ 33-3 TRY ECCLES (Dodd) CONV (Parkinson).
HT 33-3
Eccles began the second half attacking the scoreboard end and were quick to re-establish their authority, within a minute of the restart with Dodd making good yards with a strong driving run into the 22, with the ball quickly recycled and the attack finished in the corner by Ackers-Johnson for his hat trick. Conversion missed.
42’ 38-3 TRY ECCLES (Ackers-Johnson)
The rain increased, traction on the pitch decreased and the game slowed down into an attritional midfield wrestle with regular scrums. However, Eccles did not loose their grip and remained determined and disruptive in defence, with Coop strong in the line out, and Higginbottom, Spooner, White and Russell sustaining their working rate around the pitch. At 50’ Eccles introduced replacements (Campbell making a return in a prop swap with Cunningham, Manzanares making his return in a back row swap with Russell, and Holland exchanging with Cullen at scrum half ). At 60’ Fortune sustained an injury during an attack inside the 22 and was replaced by Holland at #10 with Cullen retuning to the field at #9. A scrum was awarded to Eccles 15m out, Aspull were shunted backwards over the goal line and the match official Mr Kirkpatrick, who managed the game superbly throughout, awarded a penalty try.
64’ 45-3 PENALTY TRY ECCLES
The filthy conditions continued to deteriorate, Eccles maintained the pressure on Aspull, who to their credit kept their discipline and battled to the end. Play remained for the most part inside the visitor’s territory but progress for both teams was hampered by the rain and mud and there was no further scoring.
At full time, with 7 tries, 5 conversions, no cards (and just 9 penalties awarded against them) Eccles claimed the bonus-point win to move them up the Counties 1 table to third place. Longford was not selected but did make an appearance on the touchline in the rain to support his teammates and ensure a mention in the match report.
Next Saturday Eccles will face Broughton Park, away, where they'll be looking to build on this performance to secure their first back-to-back win since November.
FT 45-3
Eccles team: Cuningham, Cox (C), Burdon, Coop, Higginbottom, White, Russell, Spooner. Cullen, Fortune (VC). Ackers-Johnson, Candland, Dodd, Parkinson, Mercer. Repacements: Campbell, Manzanares, Holland.
