Eccles RFC

Eccles took on visitors Littleborough, looking to return to winning ways after consecutive defeats and with a few players sidelined, it looked like a tough challenge for the injury hit squad.

Eccles kicked off but the ball didn’t travel the required distance giving the away side some early possession, however some good defence from Eccles and a turnover from Josh meant Eccles quickly regained the ball with Jack C making early in roads until another error handed the ball back to Littleborough who looked to kick early. Although Matt H got a hand to the kick Eccles were caught ball watching allowing the visitors to kick through from the half way line all along the ground and eventually dive on the ball to open the scoring and give themselves an early 0-7 lead with a few minutes played. 

Joe restarted the game and a short kick saw Scott ghost past the defence but failing to gather the ball meaning Littleborough had the chance to start in their own half but when the line out was deemed to not be straight Eccles had the chance to equalize, and should have done so when a pin point kick from Sam D caught the defence napping but Scott narrowly misjudged his chase and knocked on with the try line begging.

Littleborough dropped the ball out under their posts straight to Matt G who returned powerfully and although Cael set the next phase well, a poor pass from the ruck resulted in a knock on and a Littleborough scrum on their 40 metre line. Harry P was his usual tigerish self and won the ball in the breakdown but more lose passing gave possession away and with the away side looking to kick it meant Finn had another chance to show his pace, although Eccles kicked out on the full from the next phase.

Littleborough won the next line out and some expansive play got the visitors into the Eccles 10 but more good home defence won the penalty for not releasing, giving Eccles the chance to clear the ball. Eccles kicked down field from the lineout and a crunching tackle from the ever aggressive Sam D on the opposition's second row dislodged the ball. Disaster struck when from the resulting scrum a heavy pass hit Lucas in the chest, giving Littleborough a walk in try to move the score to 0-12 and presenting Eccles with an uphill task early in the game.

Abe gathered the restart and powered forwards whilst Matt G and Lucas made breaks downfield but a double movement from Joe let the visitors off the hook, more errors from both sides followed but Eccles got a foothold in the game when more tenacious Harry P defence from a Littleborough kick knocked the ball loose and Matt G was on hand to get a try back for Eccles; Matt H missed the extra points to leave the game 5-12.

Littleborough restarted the game with a kick to the try scorer and Matt made his way across the pitch and found Sam who threw an outrageous dummy to free up space on the nearside touchline and then drew the fullback and found Finn in support who flew in under the posts from the halfway line allowing Matt H to open his kicking account to make the game 12-12.

Lucas took the restart and made good yards to then win the penalty for offside and more strong running from Cael and Harry P allowed Joe the time to kick through with seconds of the first half remaining but the ball went dead to leave the game level at 12-12 at half time.

Littleborough got the second half underway and Sam D gathered the bouncing ball then cleared his lines, with the visitors kicking the ball dead. The referee awarded a penalty to Eccles for offside , Eccles took the scrum on their own 40 metre mark and a great break by Jack C with Matt in close support, found Finn again in support to romp home and give Eccles the lead for the first time and with Matt H relishing in his new role the score moved to 19-12.

Eccles were on the front foot now and more strong running from Matt G and Matt H kept the visitors honest in defence although a dropped ball gave Littleborough posession and when they kicked downfield it was Eccles who were penalised for offside following Finn’s kick and the away side took the quick tap to dive in with an easy conversion to follow tying the score up once again at 19-19.

Raff returned a deep kick off now playing for Littleborough as they were losing players, but Eccles forced the knock on in the next play to hand possession back and Matt G cut through the defence and only a last play knock on denied Eccles the next score although this wasn’t for long as Matt H won the ball back and then Joe dummied his way over to move the score to 26-19.

Jake took the restart and ploughed forwards and with both sides exchanging penalties and Sam D using his physicality to put big shots on the opposition whilst Josh was taking no prisoners with his destructive running another try looked on the cards but when Eccles lost the ball Littleborough moved it wide from the scrum and poor cover defence let the away side in for a score,  but too wide for the conversion with the game finely balanced at 26-24.

Eccles were galvansied into action. Another Joe kick off caused problems and Scott jumped high to gather the ball and with the defenders not set Sam D side-stepped his way over without anyone laying a hand on him under the posts moving the score to 33-24.

Eccles scored back to back tries for the second time with Sam D taking the restart and a booming pass across the pitch found its way to Joe who turned the defenders inside out to gallop over from 40 metres out again giving Matt the easiest of kicks to make the score 40-24.

A scrappy kick off was fumbled by Eccles which gave the visitors the ball on the Eccles 10 but a tiring Littleborough side knocked the ball forwards which gave Harry P more possession and when Cael supported the ball and set it back the ball moved to Jack C who broke clear then found Sam D who fed Matt G to score outside , Matt was in fine form to move the score to 47-24.

The final score came when Harry P found Abe and Harry G in support and slick handling from Jack C to Scott found Matt G in space but Eccles were penalised for not releasing but when Littleborough dropped the ball from the lineout Matt G gratefully accepted the ball and strolled in to complete his hat trick - final score was 54-24.

Once Eccles cut out the handling errors and remained disciplined they were a real threat with pace to burn and some strong midfield running. Eccles can’t afford to give teams a two try head start every week though and a full 70 minute performance shouldn’t be far away.