Knutsford 52 – 12 Didsbury Toc H

Knutsford travelled away to Didsbury Toc H this weekend, in a forced replay of an earlier fixture in the season. It was marked by two important milestones, Bertie Hatton’s final game for the club (for a while) before taking to the seas (working on a yacht), and the return of Alex Fielding to the side since gameweek 3, where he injured his shoulder. Moreover, following a heavy defeat to East Manchester last weekend, the lads were keen to put in a solid performance.

The game started with several strong carries from Didsbury, however, after forcing a turnover, Knutsford were able to release Bertie Hatton who used his pace to score under the sticks. Upon the restart, again, Hatton was able to do much the same, and score. Jack Lloyd scored both conversions. Didsbury then entered a strong period, characterised by strong running. Chaos and complacency in the Knutsford defence, followed by a nice switch from the Didsbury backline, saw them score, cutting the deficit in half. A stale mate persisted for a while after this, with strong runs for Cosh, Hopkins and Smyth. The deadlock was broken after Lloyd assisted Cosh who ungracefully as ever, trundled through the Didsbury defence to score.

Alex Fielding had a flurry of activity on the wing, making some strong gains before having to retire with his shoulder niggling. Shortly after, Bertie Hatton completed his first-half hattrick. Knutsford were well and truly in control of the game before half time, dominating set pieces with Cosh and Barnes making a number of steals and spoils in the lineout as they have done all season. Barnes then crossed the line before half time to truly cement Knutsford’s lead.
After half time, complacency seemed to creep in to Knutsford. Several infractions in and around the ruck, saw the boys in blue pinged constantly after half time. Moreover, some penalties for dissent from the team , saw more penalties. Luckily, Knutsford could rely on more trademark runs from Bertie Hatton – assisted by his brother Tom, to score an additional two tries. Didsbury did then however, cross the line again after a strong forward run. Knutsford then defended well, and interspersed this with strong carries from Hopkins, Barnes and Hodgkinson.

The moment of the match came when Cosh ), ran what felt like two lengths of the pitch- in reality it was from the Knutsford 22 to Didsbury’s 22, in a VERY surprising burst, before releasing Lewis Davies who interlinked with Harry Beasley for a lovely move. Jack Lloyd not long after forced a kick into the corner which he managed to gather and score, ending the game 52- 12.

Bertie Hatton rightly was awarded man of the match, after a stellar attacking performance. Everyone at the club wishes him well in sailing the seven seas. Overall, whilst we may have had things to work on, we scored more points than last time we played Didsbury, which begs the question, why was a replay insisted upon us, forcing our hand?