Sat 19 Mar 2022, 14:15
Liverpool St Helens arrived at Gorton Street on Saturday in decent form, being unbeaten in 9 of their last 11 ADM Premier fixtures since defeating Eccles 18-5 last November at Moss Lane. For probably the first time this season, Eccles were able to name a team with only a handful of changes from the previous outing and hoped this rare consistency in line up would provide an 80-minute performance.
The game got underway in beautiful spring sunshine which had encouraged a reasonable turn out of supporters. The visitors enjoyed the early attacking pressure for the opening 5 minutes but Eccles stood strong inside their own 22 and play eventually moved back to the midfield where it remained for the next 10 minutes, without either side mounting a serious threat to score. LSH looked to have the larger pack but Eccles appeared to cope with this.
Eccles struggled to respond to this set back as LSH built attacking pressure from the restart. Unable to escape their own half Eccles were inviting trouble. On 37’ LSH broke through on the left and with the benefit of a missed tackle the winger (Dickinson) ran the ball in under the sticks for a Try and straightforward conversion to give the visitors a comfortable lead as the game headed into halftime. HT 0-12.
Following the break, Eccles make a concerted effort to make progress and were more aggressive and confident in their play. On 55’ Wright , Fortune and Candland combined to break through in the centre, Flanker Adam Christey hit the fringe on the right and offloaded out of the back door to supporting winger Will Parkinson who used terrific footwork to avoid the touch line and score in the corner. 5-12 TRY ECCLES.
Eccles were now playing with more belief and determination. On 65’ a quick reaction to a penalty in the midfield, play moved out to the right and a James Wright pass fired out to the right touchline found Chris Fortune whose spidey sences helped him catch the ball behind him, pirouette, and leave LSH heads spinning as he raced in to score. 10-12 TRY ECCLES.
Eccles had their tails up. Young back row Ryley Thornton made a couple of barnstorming breaks. Will Parky was unlucky to loose his footing after his mazy weaving run through the middle cut LSH open. But the fight back was unfortunately short lived as Eccles lost their focus and heads in a costly 5-minute period. On 72’ LSH set a platform for their number 8 (Hull) to crash through and score a third try to the side of the sticks. Converted 10-19. Following the restart a Penalty is awarded to LSH, the kick is accurate. 10-22. As the players retake their positions to recommence play complaints from Eccles persist and the referee turns the restart over to LSH! Wood strikes his second penalty in as many minutes, this one from the halfway line, straight through the posts. 10-25.
It was a feisty end to the contest as Eccles attacked and a stretched LSH held on. Possession was turned over to the exuberant delight of their 8 and LSH kicked to touch so the match official could bring the game to a close. Eccles gave a strong second half performance and were capable of taking the win, but lacked cool clinical calmness when required and offered little attacking threat in the first period.
20’ 0-5 LSH TRY (Johnston)
36’ 0-12 LSH TRY (Dickinson)
HT 0-12
55’ 5-12 TRY ECCLES (Parkinson)
65’ 10-12 TRY ECCLES (Fortune)
72’ 10-19 TRY LSH (Hull)
74’ 10-22 PEN LSH (Wood)
76’ 10-25 PEN LSH (Wood)
78’17-25 PENALTY TRY
FT 17-25
