Sun 24 Nov 2019, 11:00
REPORT
Eccles welcomed Orrell to Gorton Street on Sunday morning in what turned out to be a very competitive game played in excellent spirit by both sides.
Eccles got the game underway and after a close start Eccles began to feel their way in to the match by retaining possession and maintaining strong field position through the forwards recycling the ball allowing the backs to show their powerful running and some really good lines.
After 10 minutes the pressure paid off allowing Leighton the dive over in the far corner , the ball was driven through the middle and then some excellent work by Joe Davies and Lucas enabled the ball to go out wide through numerous hands giving Leighton half a yard on his opposite number who made the finish look easier than it was – Jack had a tricky conversion out wide but made this look easy as Eccles took a 7 – 0 lead.
The tight match continued in the first half with both sides trying to play expansive rugby on the back of the platforms set by the forwards and with all the scrums going with the feed the set pieces looked the likeliest to produce points.
There could have been further scores but often the final pass went astray and a few penalties stopped the momentum of the game in large parts. The next significant passage of play came again after some excellent pressure from Eccles which allowed Max to crash over unopposed from 10 yards , some great work outside by Jack Cos freed up some space and following some hard carries down the middle Max was on hand to take the ball and open his account for the season giving Jack a much easier conversion in front of the posts which he made no mistake with.
Penalties again dictated the pace of the game and although the Eccles defence was strong , back to back decisions against Eccles allowed Orrell to register their only points of the game bang on half time when despite some good effort out wide, the away team managed to ground the ball – the kick was unsuccessful though as the whistle blew.
HT 14-0
The second half followed the same pattern as the first , some strong forward drives and excellent ball retention allowed Eccles to build some pressure but the timing of the pass was sometimes a fraction off allowing the turnover , this combined with a high penalty count meant the game stayed in the balance although Eccles remained resolute in defence and refused to let Orrell through their line
Jonny added Eccles third and final score of the match diving over in the near side corner taking 2 Orrell defenders with him, Leighton turned provider this time with more strong running breaking through the first defender allowing a slight overlap and timed his pass to perfection although Jonny still had a lot of work to and planted the ball down despite the attention of the Orrell cover defence – Jack kept his 100% record with another touchline conversion completing the scoring.
A solid Eccles performance with everyone contributing and some excellent individual performances which will please the coaches and stand the team well for the upcoming games.
A note of thanks to Mr Daniel Taylor for officiating the game. Former first prop, Danny is also ‘Home Grown’ at Eccles.
FT 21-5
Report Andy Curran
It's been a good week for the Eccles U14s with 5 of our lads selected for the Sale Sharks DPP. The DPP is a joint initiative between Sale Sharks and the RFU designed to provide development opportunities for the best young players in the North West and a first opportunity to identify players with the greatest potential to enter the pathway towards the professional game. Players selected follow an Academy curriculum focusing on the development of core skill, decision making and athleticism, delivered through the principles of play.
Well done Jack Costello (7), Jack Lightbowne (centre), Ollie Flemming (6), Matt Houghton (8) and Lucas Reeveley (10, Capt.) #HomeGrown.
