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Bowdon beat Lancashire Cup Finalist in thriller

Bowdon beat Lancashire Cup Finalist in thriller

Stephen Harrison27 Sep 2015 - 20:15
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Hard battle against very tough opposition Eccles 24-27 Bowdon

Winners never quit
- Steve Harrison

Bowdon travelled to Eccles. This has not been a regular fixture and it must have been 5 years since we played them. With injuries and players away we took a squad of 20 out of a possible 32. We had a relatively comfortable training game the week before against Sandbach and the coaches agreed we needed this type of fixture.

We certainly had heard a lot about them, tough tacklers, hard runners and not a team that has lost many games over the years. In fact they only lost to Lymm by a small margin, beat Flyde in last years semi final of the Lancs and we're losing finalists to Preston. Well they did not let us down. Our lads very quickly knew they were in a game.

Early in the game Bowdon seemed a little nervous. Eccles ran at us at close quarters, rucking was strong. Bowdon defence held and for the first 10 mins the game was played in between both oppositions halves. Our penalty count was high and they elected to run most times, this did catch us out at times. The first score came from Eccles, missed tackles allowed them to run through and score under the posts. Fortunately a scuffed conversation they led by only 5-0. From the kick off Bowdon responded well and hunted down the ball. From the middle of the park Gus Warr sent a long kick down the right side for Ben Thomas to chase and out pace his opposing player to scoop the ball up and score near the post. Kicked converted by Will Cartlidge made it 5-7. Soon after another try in the right hand corner from Tom Hunt powering down the right hand side. Missed conversion the score line read 5-12. Eccles responded with quick play around the park, we missed tackles and they scored & converted to make it 12-12. On a beautiful day they ball should have gone wider more, a few wrong decisions, missed tackles made this a tight game. Both sides had equal possession. They came back and made it 17-12, we then scored 2 tries and 1 converted to make it 17-24. Last play was called from the kick off only to find out it was not. With the confusion, and lack of concentration allowed Eccles in for a converted score 24-24! Well we might have taken a draw but they players determined to march down the field. Keeping possession a new the forwards putting pressure on Eccles resulted in a penalty on the 10 yard line to the right. The decision was not to go for the corner (like England I might add!) and go for goal. Will Cartlidge stepped up and slotted the kick over easily, well I say easily but the lad puts the practice in and knows his ability. The matched ended 24-27 to us.

Yes we certainly were in a game and it could have gone either way. Lots of learning points for us and the players. Enjoyable match and our hosts played in great spirits and we look forward to more matches against them. We wish Reece a speedy recovering (player for rom their team)

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