Eagles Defeat Runcorn

It was a disappointing afternoon all around for Runcorn who slipped to their first defeat of the 2017 league campaign, going down 30-12 to Culcheth Eagles.

From the first whistle it was apparent that the home team was more fired up and wanted to win the match more than the travelling Runcorn side. With strong running from the Eagles and tough defence, it was hard for the visitors to settle into any sort of rhythm, and that shown, when after each team went set for set, Culcheth scored twice within minutes of each other taking the score to 12-0.

But as the half was drawing to an end, Runcorn started to come back at the home side, and with good metres being made from forwards Andy Lee, Tom Costes and Lee Potter, Runcorn found themselves deep in the Eagles half, and after the hosts came up with a handling error, Runcorn had a scrum 10 metres from the opposition try line. A smart blind side move off the scrum saw stand off Tom Dempsey touch down to get the visitors on the board, 12-4 half time.

Perhaps the half time whistle came at the wrong time for Runcorn, as Culcheth started the second half like they did the first, and with some sloppy errors from Runcorn allowed the Eagles to attack the visitors try line, which saw them cross three times to take the score out 30-4.

With the match seemingly gone from Runcorn, it was just pride they had to play for, and with some good off the cuff play, Stefan Edwards just got the ball down before the going dead in goal, to bring the score to 30-8. Than, a couple of minutes later, Runcorn scored again, when full back Jack Phillips dived over, to take the score to 30-12.

Runcorn will look to bounce back in their next league game on Saturday 27th May, as they travel to Little Hulton Reds, which promises to be a tough encounter.