Eccles RFC

In a rearranged fixture Eccles welcomed the unbeaten Vale of Lune U16s to Gorton Street on Sunday morning in what proved to be a classic game played in great spirits.

Vale of Lune started the game and Eccles fielded the ball well and set a couple of drives from Blake and Matt but then conceded a penalty for not releasing. Vale of Lune took advantage by tapping quickly although the Eccles side defended well and forced the visitors in touch. Eccles won the line out and Jack cleared the line well with Lucas chasing well but conceded a penalty for a deliberate knock on to give the away side possession again. The Eccles defence was being tested although Joe won a penalty from the scrum after a strong tackle on his opposite number. The pressure was telling on Eccles and Vale of Lune opened the scoring when a deep kick wasn’t dealt with and although Eccles recovered to kick the ball back to the half way line a good passing move through a broken field meant Vale of Lune scored down the right and converted to take an early 0-7 lead.

Eccles restarted the game with the sides trading kicks for territory and Eccles made some good progress with drives from Jack and Matt G and only a dropped ball preventing a potential try. Eccles were again on the back foot and proving to be their own worst enemy by again failing to gather a kick through withn Finn being tackled into touch and from the resulting line out the Vale of Lune 10 dummied his way over the line and under the posts to make the score 0-14.

Joe got the game going again and kicked deep to the number 11 who managed to run cross field from left to right evading some poor attempts at tackles to stroll in for the visitor's third try and move the score 0-21. With just 15 minutes played a heavy defeat looked on the cards at this point.

Eccles forced the knock on from the restart but again conceded a penalty for not releasing but some strong defence from Matt G and Max kept the attack at bay and it was Eccles turn to receive a penalty for not releasing which was compounded by another 10 metres for dissent, Eccles won the resulting lineout and received another penalty which Jack took quickly catching the Vale of Lune defence still offside giving Eccles some momentum, which carried on when Cael took a strong drive and set the ball back for Leighton who saw a gap in the cover defence to kick through and win the race to touchdown and bring Eccles back into the game at 7-21.

Eccles were growing into the game and only their own poor handling stopped more points going on the scoreboard before the half time whistle blew. HT 7-21.

Eccles needed turn the game round and assert themselves in order to capitalise on the way they ended the first half and it was Eccles who kicked off the second half. Good defence from Matt H and a Matt G intercept kept the pressure on the visitors, forcing them to concede a penalty for offside but Eccles managed to lose the lineout allowing Vale of Lune to kick deep, although Abraham made good yards with his running through the midfield.

Eccles were now keeping play in the opponent's half, with Joe testing the visitors with some elusive footwork whilst Harry P took every opportunity to take the game to Vale. Eccles were in the ascendency and blocked an attempted clearance kick. Although Vale of Lune won the scrum a dropped ball gave Joe the chance to kick through and pounce on the loose ball and when Jack arrived in support he picked the ball up to make good yards and fed Lucas who won the penalty on the 20 metre line . Jack and Joe went close to scoring from the line out and when the visitors conceded yet another penalty Jack seized the opportunity to take a quick tap and crash over under the posts giving himself an easy kick to close the gap to 7 points at 14-21.

The kick off was fumbled backwards by Eccles, although Leighton recovered the ball well and won a penalty. The kick to touch didn’t make it but Vale of Lune knocked the ball forward giving Eccles more good field position allowing Chayse and Harry G to make more good yards with punishing drives. Eccles were really running well as a team with Matt G and Matt H willing runners whilst Leighton was pulling the strings behind them and Eccles next score wasn’t far away when more penalties were conceded by Vale of Lune as they were struggling to cope with the speed of the Eccles attack. Jack produced an almost carbon copy of his first try by taking a quick tap and touching down to the right of the posts and giving himself the opportunity to tie the scores but the conversion attempt swerved wide giving the away side a massive let off, which was audible in their reaction as the score was now 19-21.

Vale of Lune were breathing hard now due to the amount of defensive work they had to do and the kick off went to Josh who returned the ball with pure aggression which then allowed Jack and Matt to take the ball into the Vale of Lune half, Abraham followed this approach and when the visitors were penalised for offside, about 20 metres out, it gave Jack a second opportunity and he made no mistake this time by slotting over to give Eccles the lead for the first time at 22-21.

Vale of Lune attempted to take a quick restart but Lucas make no mistake in pouching the kick and set the ball back. Although Vale of Lune turned the ball over to give themselves one last chance which was wasted when they were again guilty of coming in at the side, leaving Eccles to kick the ball out and complete an outstanding comeback.

Although Eccles weren’t at their best at times they didn’t let their heads drop, fought for one another and showed some true grit to turn things round and go into next week's Lancashire Cup game full of confidence.

Report - Andy Curran.

Our thanks to Vale of Lune who made the 100-mile round trip to Eccles when they were unable to host us at Powder House Lane. This was a cracking game of rugby, a competitive full-committment contest, played in a great spirit with excellent discipline by both teams. The Eccles 16s can be proud of thier self-belief and determination to fight back against a strong opponant. It was a dominant second half performance necessitated by a poor opening quarter. We'll be fixing that this week. - CG