Moor attacked hard and defended even harder today against Eccles and even though minor infringements were missed by the ref, we have to always remember the ref cannot see everything but ultimately is always right. With the game underway Theo was first to reverse the direction of the ball, with an amazing full on tackle and even though we carried the ball very little from this advantage Lucas was to follow with a similar tackle. With 10 minutes into this game play hadn’t moved from the centre line very much, both sides defending well even though the rucks looked messy and chaotic. It was a fumbled ball from Moor that gave Eccles the chance to cover ground, taking play dangerously close the try line. After a nail biting last play a dummy kick from Joel who turned it into a pass gave Lucas the chance to ferry the ball away and out of trouble leaving the first Quarter 0-0. The first half hadn’t gone our way with regards to the referee’s decision but Mike was quick to explain that we need the ref on our side and working with the ref is better than arguing with him, we needed to get him on our side.
If there was ever a time I wanted a replay it was the first minute of this second quarter. After Ben attempts a tackle the ball popped up head height and before anyone could blink Henry is first to it and charging out of the chaos and into clear space, he puts Moor in front. Eccles was quick to attempt an equaliser and from a ruck Eccles, controversially, scoop the ball up and is awarded a try. Mathew Casey put in a great effort with Eccles latched on he drove the ball against all odds from centre to within reach of a try but unfortunately the ruck crumbled. This quarter was weighted in favour of Eccles who took the score to 15-5. Moors determination and pace never faltered was only dented by losing shape and gravitating towards the ball. This was highlighted when Mike reminded our lads that they needed to follow their marked men.
To be fair to Moor we have quickly become accustomed to 60m x 43m pitch sizes. Playing a slightly narrowed pitch today didn’t give our lads the space to hit the sides with the sprints we are good at; however this third instalment of the game was ours.
After great catching from McKenzie Henry is soon speeding away from the pack and bringing us closer with another try. Andrew played superbly, constantly sprinting down the restricted touch line only to be knocked into touch at the last minute. MaCawley was next to repeat the same, slamming the ball down over the white line. The devastation on his face when he realised it wasn’t the try line was heartbreaking. Moor were awarded control when Eccles were penalised for breaking scrum too soon and this gave MaCawley his chance, this time equalising. With the score now equal Eccles were out of their comfort zone and it clearly showed when Jacob touched down the ball with Eccles on top of him shielding the ref’s view. The Ref awarded the try much to Eccles frustration and vocal shouts at him.
The last quarter and Eccles were quick to equalise but we had Andrew who had found his space on the wing and it was just enough to go in front. It was nice to see the return of Owen and even though still strapped up it didn’t stop his heroic tackling halting Eccles attempts to get past our defence. Felix was a key player today defending well and thus giving Billy a chance to take the score to 23-30. Play was stopped briefly when Matthew Gaskell is injured and carried off, he to performing well throughout. Last Play was just where Mathew had been injured right on our try line. So it was inevitable that Eccles would score but not win. Final score was 25-35.

Attacking Player of the Week: - Andrew for amazing speed with the ball.

Defensive Player of the Week: - Theo who, as usual, demonstrated amazing tackling.