Dog Fight

It was ‘the business end’ of the season, only this and one other match to go and six of the fourteen sides all knowing that they faced a relegation threat. At the end of the afternoon only the Wolves and Leigh had made themselves safe. The Wolves had moved up to eighth position in the table and if they can win away at Broughton Park next week, they could well finish in the top half of the league.

It was agonising for the visitors from Cumbria who had come so close to easing their own relegation worries. They returned home knowing that they have to win at home next week against Leigh and even that may not be enough to save them. Realistically the odds are against them.

Everyone knew that this match between two sides desperate to win would be an unholy dog fight. The Wolves had recalled the old stalwart Chris Lee to scrum half for his last home game before leaving for a career move to Hong Kong. He responded with a faultless gritty performance. It was also Ricky Chadwick’s likely swan song at The Memorial Ground before he too leaves for foreign parts. The Cumbrians for their part had travelled with their strongest and most experienced selection of big rugged well fed looking men. What they would lack in pace and flair would be more than adequately compensated for in their physical strength and tactical nous. They were a much better side than their lowly league position would suggest, having only themselves to blame for a slow start to the season that had left them with a lot of catching up to do at the tail end. It was a game where the side that made the fewest unforced errors was likely to prevail.

Wigton were the first to show in the early skirmishes as Wilmslow failed to tidy up a positional kick from Wigton No. 10 Tane Manihera and were forced on to the defensive in the early scrums. The Wolves though were soon on the attack trying to play their normal pacey game and in a brief period of pressure on the Wigton line missed a golden opportunity to open the scoring when right winger Ben Day with a clear overlap over ran the final pass from Mike Black. They were soon made to pay as the Wigton forwards started to get on top, winning penalties in the scrum. A knock on from a fairly innocuous looking kick ahead by Manihera gave them a good attacking opportunity and only a knock on by Wigton No. 8 Matthew Atkinson denied them a score. From the scrum though a slightly miscued clearing kick gave big Atkinson the chance to run at pace and brushing off attempted tacklers he made the line far out on the right. Full back Gregg Smith made no mistake with the conversion.

The Wolves were now being forced to play from deep and they compounded their difficulties by continually losing the ball in the tackle and ruck. Wigton really should have made more of their possession at this stage but were kept out by a tenacious defence.

Just before half time, the Wolves managed to create an attacking position. Alex Taylor and Alex Donaldson both drove for the line and were held up but when quick ball was released, Mike Black found the space to get to the line for the equalising score. Wigton’s Smith missed a difficult penalty shot and the half ended with the Wolves beginning to look the more likely of the two sides and they continued in the same vein for the early part of the second half. A Bob MacCallum penalty was scant reward for some enterprising play.

From the restart though, the Wigton pack were up to turn over the ball and after a period of not particularly threatening close play, Manihera threw a wild pass back into the wide open spaces. It was fielded by right winger Tom Gardner and fed inside to the deceptive centre David Hanabury, who made no mistake in scoring close to the posts.

Five minutes later it was 13-14 as MacCallum landed a second Wolves penalty. They continued to pen Wigton back during a period in which both sides were losing ball through turnovers, knock ons and loose kicking. It was edgy stuff until Day did just enough to get back to another Manihera kick, allowing Lee to put the ball into the right hand corner. A catch and drive was held up, the ball was spun left and when that was held up it went right again where this time Day was in the right position to take the scoring pass. MacCallum bisected the posts with his conversion.

Wigton weren’t finished by any means. A squint Donaldson throw at the lineout gave them the scrum and by now they knew that if they kept it tight, it wouldn’t be quick or pretty but they would advance up the field. Twice the Wolves were penalised for pulling down the maul. The Wigton touchline support howled for a penalty try under the posts but they had to settle for a try wide out on the left from winger Jordan Wood. Crucially, Smith’s conversion attempt just drifted wide. From the restart, they went again through their forwards, Hanabury nearly made a break but the Wolves snarling tacklers kept them pinned back until a penalty enabled Manihera to set up a position on the Wolves twenty two. Danger threatened. Never had the Wolves needed Mike Clifford to steal a lineout so badly. He misread the throw but Mike Black didn’t. He took a knock in the process and the referee rightly stopped the game for medical attention. The ensuing scrum was solid, Taylor picked and drove, MacCallum cleared to half way where Wood fielded the ball to run it back but more Wilmslow defenders than Wigton attackers got across, Wood was tackled and turned over, Lee booted the ball to the Wigton line and harrying Wolves forced the sole Wigton defender to boot the ball dead. And that was that.

It had been an absorbing contest, which could easily have gone the way of the visitors. In truth both sides had had their moments and neither really deserved to lose. Mike Clifford got the man of the match award for an imperious performance in scrum, lineout and around the field, it must have been a close call with an equally hard working impressive Mike Black but with four successful kicks at goal out of four attempts it was the ice cool MacCallum, who had won the day.

The Vikings confirmed their promotion to next season’s Bateman Premier league with a resounding 51-19 win at Kendal, whilst the Developmentals won away at Trafford MV to confirm their promotion to University of Salford League 3 South. All in all, not a bad day for Wilmslow Rugby Club.