Eccles RFC

Eccles travelled to St. Helens hoping to continue their fine form in the next stage of the Lancashire Cup against an LSH side which had handed a depleted Eccles side a heavy defeat in a pre-Christmas fixture.

Eccles commenced proceedings with a deep kick and LSH showed their intent early by kicking deep to Leighton, who returned the ball well and won the penalty when the hosts didn’t roll away. Eccles didn’t find touch with the penalty kick handing LSH the first chance to attack, although the Eccles defence held firm forcing LSH to kick dead with an attempt to chip over the top. Eccles conceded a penalty with the line out throw not being straight to give the home side more territory and possession.

LSH were awarded a scrum although the Eccles pack dominated the contest and a crushing tackle by Max stopped them in their tracks. Another LSH penalty gave them more field position but the resolute Eccles defence kept them out and a penalty from an LSH lineout gave Eccles the scrum for some much needed possession. Jack L picked the ball up at the base of the scrum who then found Joe who made some good yards which in the end forced LSH to knock on over their goal line and force the drop out. Although this phase of possession didn’t go anywhere, the defensive work of both teams was determined and Cael won a penalty when he tackled his opposite number who was penalised for not releasing.

Eccles were still dominating the scrum and Leighton spotted a gap and kicked through and chased, with Joe then doing the same, which won another Eccles penalty although some over enthusiastic handling meant the ball flew into touch. From the lineout Raff crunched the LSH centre and secured the ball giving Finn half a chance to break but he was forced into touch on the 30 metre line.

Evan was proving to be a real handful at the front of the lineouts and won another one against the throw  Jack L attempted a cross field kick to Raff who took the defender with him in making good progress which was supported at the breakdown by a good run my firstly Cael and then Max, but LSH scrambled well and won the penalty for not releasing. More dominance in the scrum saw Eccles push LSH off the ball and Joe tried another kick through to the in-goal which went dead. Play however was brought back for an LSH offside and then a quick tap saw another Eccles penalty and a yellow card for LSH who cynically used hands in the ruck to drag the ball away.

Eccles were in the ascendency now and believed they had opened the scoring when Finn dived over in the corner but the referee had other ideas and brought the play back for a high tackle on Lucas who was proving a real threat. Another quick tap saw a carbon copy of the move out to Finn who this time was awarded the try as he slid in out wide. Jack hit the crossbar with a great attempt from out wide to leave the score 0-5.

LSH restarted the game and Lucas took the kick and smashed into the defence before finding Matt H in support who galloped over the half way line and drew the full back before passing to Jack who saw the cover defence coming across and timed his pass out of the back to Joe who cut back inside and was held up just short of the line. LSH took the chance to kick to the 30 . Evan again won the line out and Jake opted to go down the blind side and was bundled in to touch giving LSH the opportunity to kick deep from the line out which Leighton chased back to gather, but Eccles were penalised at the breakdown for going in at the side and LSH were quick to take advantage to level the scores when they moved the ball out to the right and dived over in the corner with the conversion hitting the post to level the scores at 5-5.

Sam D spotted the LSH weren’t set at kick off and chipped the ball wide where Jack L outpaced the opposition to gather the ball in and win the penalty but a forward pass from the scrum proved to be past meaningful play of the first half which saw Eccles on the front foot for the majority of the time. HT 5-5.

LSH got the second half underway with Eccles making a raft of changes hoping to build on a strong finish to the half with Jake taking the kick and Leighton clearing the Eccles line with a kick downfield and when LSH were offside from the returning kick it gave Eccles an early chance with a lineout on the LSH 30 metre line which Matt H won. When Harry G slipped into contact the ball was knocked on from the next phase . Lucas continued his excellent game when he partially blocked an attempted clearance from LSH and chased the loose ball to force a knock on from LSH to give Eccles the scrum which almost resulted in a score but Eccles knocked on out wide with the line beckoning.

LSH had the scrum on the 22 metre line and Eccles were offside and the compounded this error when they knocked on from the kick through although Raff won the ball back playing as a flanker after his first half stint on the wing but more poor handling by Eccles out wide returned the ball to the home side . LSH won the scrum but were tackled into touch but Eccles lost the lineout, then were penalised for not releasing, then judged to be offside in back to back penalties which was further compounded when Eccles questioned the official's decision which allowed LSH to march 50 metres downfield for free and the hosts ghosted through the defence untouched at the lineout to score in the corner to make the game 10-5 with the kick not strong enough for the extras.

Eccles were proving to be their own worst enemy, with poor discipline racking up penalties and allowing LSH off the hook when Eccles had the ball, and giving them field possession when Eccles were defending.

Sam D restarted the game again and Eccles flew into the tackles and LSH seemed happy to kick the ball away each time but were caught offside themselves which allowed Josh to build up a head of steam and put Eccles on the front foot, which gave the backs quick ball with Lucas and Leighton moving possession out to Scott who still had a lot to do but managed to touch down inches from the touchline with defenders hanging off him. Jack composed himself for a tough kick from the wide position and split the uprights with a precise conversion to take the lead with a few minutrs left at 10-12.

Eccles received the ball but knocked on straight away on their own 22. The Eccles defense held firm but were then penalised as they were in front of the Sam who kicked deep but then began to chase down the ball which meant LSH had a penalty 30 metres out to edge in front. The kick wasn’t strong enough though and fell short with Harry G taking the ball and securing it but with slow arriving support another penalty for not releasing gave the ball back to LSH who attempted to go blind side but were pushed into touch . Eccles won the line out again but Leighton’s kick was parried into touch giving the visitors the line out on the 22, which Eccles won at the second attempt and cleared their lines again, but with nothing to lose LSH kept the ball alive and yet another penalty gave them more territory and a quick tap found the Eccles defence lacking in numbers out wide, with the winger scoring in the corner despite a heroic attempt by Sam to hold him up. Last play. The extras were added to take the final score to 17-12 with the referee blowing up after the conversion.

This was a game Eccles should have and could have won but poor discipline with repeated penalties in the last quarter gave the home side unnecessary help to move forwards. Game management needs to improve in the coming weeks as Eccles have given themselves work to do in order to progress in the competition.