Sat 26 Feb 2022, 14:15
1XV MATCH REPORT
Eccles headed West to St Helens on the East Lancs Road on Saturday in search of an 80-minute performance to reverse the home defeat suffered back in September, where a hesitant start saw Eccles go 0-12 down in the opening 12 mins to a fired up West Park outfit. The spring sunshine on the green turf was a promising prospect for a decent game of rugby as the whistle got the match underway in bright and breezy conditions at the Red Rocks ground.
The opening quarter of an hour was a tight contest, played mostly in the midfield, with the hosts enjoying marginally better possession but neither team able to break through solid defensive lines. Injury to a West Park player halted play briefly and a resulting scrum penalty in front of the Eccles posts gave West Park the first clear opportunity to score but Eccles dealt with the threat out wide, regained possession and moved up field. Shortly after, at 17 minutes, Eccles were awarded a penalty 30m out. With a strong wind at his back, the Captain attempted to break the deadlock but his kick hit the right post. Although Park gathered the loose ball, Eccles piled on the pressure to keep play inside the 22 and having regained possession, the ball was moved swiftly through the hands of Wright and Fortune in midfield to find Gavin Ackers Johnson on the right wing who made good ground breaking tackles. The ball was shifted rapidly back to the left where the forwards combined to put Neil Williams into the corner for a opening Eccles try on 21 minutes. The flanker sustained a back injury in the process which resulted in him leaving the field for treatment. Conversion missed. 0-5.
For the next 15 minutes West Park enjoyed sustained possession but the Eccles defence was assured and committed, with Adam Christey’s competitive work at the breakdown contributing to keeping the hosts inside their own half. As the clock ticked down to the interval, West Park broke through the middle and good work from their forwards set a platform for their hooker to be released through a gap at close range and dot down to the side of the posts just before the break at 38 minutes. Converted to put the hosts ahead 7-5. It had been a strong first half from both sides, with both teams enjoying an even share of possession but solid defence reducing each other’s attacks to few scoring opportunities. One try each was a fair reflection of the very close contest. HT 7-5.
The opening 10 minutes of the second half was a disaster for Eccles. With less than a minute played Hooker Fin Cox suffered a knee injury in a tackle at the halfway line and had to leave the field. When play resumed Eccles made a promising break up the right wing through winger Gav, who, evading several tackles was forced into touch by the fullback just inside the West Park 22. From the resulting line out the hosts escaped their territory and through good passing across the pitch, and some desperate defensive tackling from Eccles, it was heroically finished in the corner by the flag to the delight of the home crowd. Conversation hit the bar. 12-5. Straight from the restart Eccles give away a penalty in the middle of the pitch. 15-5. Two minutes later, following the restart, a flowing Eccles attack was dramatically terminated when the ball was played behind the advancing Gav, who slipped in an attempt to regain possession and the West Park winger gleefully charged into the open space behind to run in the try unopposed. 50 minutes played. 20-5.
Eccles attempted to respond with Wright, Candland and Fortune combining to break through the line in the centre with some fluid running rugby. The forwards continued the momentum on the left, with Tighthead Mark Greenhalgh making good driving yards. With the pressure building, former colt Max Mulligan took the ball closer to the goal line and from the ruck, Keiron Reed courageously smashed through the defence to score a try, on 57 minutes with two West Park players needing to leave pitch for treatment to head injuries. 20-10.
However, Eccles failed to build on this success and straight from the restart West Park reasserted their control of the game, with their left winger scoring again in the corner. 25-10. Further injuries served to disrupt Eccles who were struggling to take territory or make progress in the game. At 70 minutes an exit kick into the strong wind blew backwards causing defensive chaos, resulting in a yellow card for Tim B. It did not take West Park long to take advantage of their extra man and a few minutes later they scored their 5th try with 10 minutes left to play. 32-10.
Eccles pressed to reduce the deficit. With 2 minutes remaining, good passing across the backs released lock Nick Spooner on the far right, who thundered in on the goal line flag. His attempt to score was denied but the defence was considered illegal and a yellow card was awarded to West Park. From the resulting Eccles line out, the flowing attack across the field was halted by an infringement, from the penalty awarded the ball was shifted quickly to the left and carried in once again by Keiron who was stopped 5m short of the line. The ball was fired out to James Wright who slotted a perfect cross field kick, in a cross field wind, into the hands of Neil Williams charging in on the right flank to score his second try of the afternoon. 32-15. The Conversion kick into the strong wind missed and the game was brought to a conclusion by the match official. A very close first half. A very open second half. Enjoyable rugby from both teams with Eccles starting and finishing strong but errors in the middle contributing to the result. FT 32-15
HIGHLIGHTS
17’ 0-0 PEN ECCLES (hits post)
21’ 0-5 TRY ECCLES (Neil Williams)
38’ 7-5 TRY WEST PARK
40’ HT 7-5
45’ 12-5 TRY WEST PARK
48’ 15-5 PEN WEST PARK
50’ 20-5 TRY WEST PARK
57’ 20-10 TRY ECCLES (Keiron Reed)
60’ 25-10 TRY WEST PARK
70’ YELLOW ECCLES (Tim Balogun)
73’ 32-10 TRY WEST PARK
78’ YELLOW WEST PARK
79’ 32-15 TRY ECCLES (Neil Williams)
80’ FT 32-15
