Moor travelled to league-leaders Eccles last Saturday in what was a third attempt to get the game played, as the previous two were cancelled due to the weather. This was a much-changed side from that which played the week before, especially amongst the forwards, due to non-availabilities and injuries. Needless-to-say, this did not help their cause, as the final outcome showed.
Moor kicked-off into a strong wind and then spent most of the first half defending in their own territory, as the home side kept possession and were constantly probing, but to their credit, although giving away a number of penalties, Moor defended well and it wasn’t until the last ten minutes of this period that Eccles finally took control. The first score of the game came after a quarter-of-an-hour when from an attacking lineout on the left, Eccles moved the ball along their three-quarter line, created an overlap, and scored an unconverted try in the right-hand corner. From the restart, Moor forced their opposition into touch, won the lineout, and then won a penalty, which was kicked to touch on the host’s 5-metre line. This lineout was also won and again, Eccles were penalised, resulting in a quickly-taken tapped penalty, allowing flanker Tom Yeomans to cross the line for an unconverted try. This proved to be a brief incursion by Moor, but solid defence kept denying Eccles and it wasn’t for another fifteen minutes before the latter again took the lead, when following repeated rucks short of the visitor’s line, a gap suddenly opened up for one of their number to dart trough for their second try, this time converted. With five minutes to go before the interval, Moor then added to their task when they had a player sin-binned and from the resultant tapped penalty, Eccles ran through some less than effective tackling to score another converted try. In injury time, Moor found themselves on the attack inside their opponent’s half, but then managed to spill the ball which was hacked downfield by an Eccles player, who beat the cover to touch down and with the try being converted, made the score at the break 26-5 to the home side.
Although Moor were now playing with the wind in the second half, Eccles put the game out of reach when they scored a further three converted tries within the first ten minutes of the restart. The first of these came whilst Moor were still a man short, but all originated from within the Eccles half of the field, with the first two as a result of the ball being recycled at pace between forwards and backs and the last one, a piece of individual brilliance by their left winger who ran in unopposed, after Moor had been dispossessed at a lineout which they had just pinched from their opponents. Following the restart, Moor charged down a clearance kick by Eccles and beat the defenders to score their second try, this time converted by fly-half Antoon Leemers. The visitors continued to keep their opposition pinned down and for the next twenty minutes had their best passage of play of the game. Midway through the half, this pressure paid off as it was now Eccles’s turn to be repeatedly penalised and from one of these, a tapped penalty was taken, resulting in second-row Jack Pipe driving over for an unconverted try. Moor continued to press, using the wind to keep play down in their opponent’s territory and were held up on a couple of occasions on the line. Following one of these drives however, they lost the ball, which was pounced on by Eccles, and catching the visitors flat-footed, promptly ran the ball up the pitch to score an unconverted try. This score against the run of play seemed to knock what little motivation Moor had left, as from the restart, the home side repeated the exercise, this time running through some poor tackling to score another converted try. The hosts were still not finished, as in injury time, they again swept past some very tired defenders to score their tenth try of the game, inflicting the heaviest defeat of the season on Moor, 64-17.

This Saturday Moor are at Aldwinians, k.o. 3:00 p.m.