Sun 17 Nov 2019, 11:00
REPORT
Lancashire U16 Cup. Pool B, Round 4.
We had a late kick-off due to pitch availability, and when we arrived things were in full swing with lots of matches and a great atmosphere. Liverpool St Helens have always been a friendly club to visit with great bacon rolls, up to the fine Eccles standard!
We had a difficult first few minutes as the ref was strictly policing offside, and our lads were a bit too casual around the gain line. So, we ended up playing against advantage for a lot of the first half. This resulted in several penalty shots, luckily only the first went over giving LSH an early 3-0 lead.
We then got some good movement with the forwards after the restart who drove over, only for it to be disallowed.
15 minutes in we were under pressure in our own 22, but a good clearance reached touch just over halfway. The forwards anticipated the throw, drifted back, lifted and caught. We then got a textbook maul up the pitch leaving Billy to break away and score. Sam converted from a tricky touchline position to give us a 3-7 lead.
LSH then created a bit of defensive panic after taking a quick penalty and scored to go 8-7 up. After the restart Sam gave a fine kick into space that sent both Henry and TomA chasing the ball. Henry caught cleanly and went over to give us the half time lead at 8-12.
Early in the second half we were hit by a couple of injuries which disrupted our formation, LSH taking advantage to score two and go 20-12 in front. Henry then pulled one back with a great individual run for 20-17.
Then we had 15 minutes of stalemate, and the game got a bit rougher. Fortunately, no cards were needed, but some of our lads were getting riled with it. With three minutes left Eccles went for a last ditch, all in attack. But carelessness and a few missed tackles let LSH breakthrough for 27-17. With the clock over 70 minutes, our lads were expecting LSH to kick the ball out after the restart, so were caught napping with another breakaway to give LSH 34-17 at the whistle.
The result flattered the home side, with the 20-17 being a fairer view of the match, but those last 90 seconds cost us a bonus point. With better mental resilience this would have been a clean win.
Match Captain: Billy
Man of the Match: Henry – two fine tries and some great cover tackles.
Report by Andy Connell, Eccles RFC U16 Manager
HIGHLIGHTS
3’ 3-0 Penalty LSH
17’ 3-7 TRY Billy Conv Sam
20’ 8-7 TRY LSH
25’ 8-12 TRY Henry
HT 8-12
42’ 15-12 TRY & Conv LSH
49’ 20-12 TRY LSH
54’ 20-17 TRY Henry
68’ 27-17 TRY & Conv LSH
70’ 34-17 TRY & Conv LSH
70’ FT 34-17.
