Better second half now, need to maintain whole game

Having already played them twice, the home league fixture and a League Cup game, with the results in both being quite close, but Wigan coming away with the spoils after each encounter. The match had added spice as each club had identical records and the couple of points that separated them in the league was due to Moor having two additional bonus points.

The home side kicked off and proceeded to keep Moor pinned back in their own territory and only returned back over the halfway line with a converted try for their efforts. This came after sustained pressure inside the Moor 22 and following a series of rucks which sucked in the visitor’s defenders, it provided Wigan with a gap in the opposition defence which they exploited by breaking through to score between the uprights.

From this initial set-back, Moor then set up their first real attacks in the game and it was the home side who then had to defend and were soon forced into conceding a couple of penalties, the last one of which led to a kick at goal, but the attempt went wide. Having withstood this assault, Wigan took the game back into Moor territory where they remained for most of the second quarter, forcing Moor into constantly having to defend their line and it wasn’t long before their lead was increased. This came from a relieving drop-out kick by Moor which was collected by a Wigan player, who ran the ball back into the Moor defence, setting up a series of rucks to stretch the cover, and create an overlap for their right-winger to score a converted try in the corner.

The home side should have stretched their lead even further immediately after this, as the ball was chipped over the advancing visiting players following the restart, and was dealt with in a somewhat lethargic fashion by a Moor player, allowing the Wigan winger to race through and kick ahead. Fortunately, he knocked on just as he was picking the ball up to score, much to the relief of Moor players and supporters. Moor somehow managed to weather this storm and on the brink of half-time, turned the ball over, allowing centre Chris Ogden-Smith to kick deep into the opposition’s half, where right-winger David Adebo tackled the Wigan defender, who was then penalised for not releasing. A quickly-taken tap penalty by back-row Jon Walters, who was up in support, allowed him to crash over under the cross-bar, giving full-back Ben Haspell an easy conversion, to unexpectedly reduce the arrears, and the home side reached the break 14-7 in the lead.

This lead was further extended courtesy of a penalty goal not long after the restart, but this was to prove Wigan’s last score of the game, as Moor then took control of the match, which was then played, for the most part, in their opponent’s half for the rest of the tie. In an almost identical situation to that prior to the interval, one side had to defend their line, except that this time, it was now Wigan’s turn. Repeated pick and drives by Moor had the home side desperately defending and eventually, this dominance paid off when prop Sam Ireland drove over for a try, converted by Haspell.

Moor continued to press and following an extended period camped on the Wigan line, should have taken the lead as, on a number of occasions, they drove over the line, but were adjudged to have had the ball held up. Eventually, the visitors drew level with a well-struck penalty by Haspell, but could not manage to add to their score-line, due in part to dogged defence by the opposition. Deep into injury time, Wigan nearly snatched victory when awarded a penalty within range of the Moor line, but fortunately for the Green Lane side, the resultant kick drifted wide and the game ended in a 17-17 draw. This was perhaps a fair result, given that each side had dominated for extended periods of the game and it was certainly a satisfying second half performance for Moor, as they had worked their way back into contention after a somewhat under-par first half .

Next Saturday, Moor are at home to Ormskirk, k.o. 2:15 p.m.

DAVID TODD