Knutsford face 2nd season defeat to a quality Manchester 2nd XV

The feedback from the Manchester coach last Saturday was an admission that the scoreline did not reflect the quality of rugby and the closeness of the game.

The first half finished 19-0 to the home side but this was purely down to the clinical effectiveness of Manchester after Knutsford spurned a few chances to level the trys scored.

An effective back row of Tom Yarwood and Jude Clark complimented Nathan Brooks at 8 well and time and again punched holes in the Manchester defensive line but their defence was strong and resisted the Knutsford onslaught. When the ball did come out the cleanliness of it wasn't perfect and this led to Manchesters defence being able to smother the backline.

Flyhalf Docherty marshalled strongly and the backs were able to get the ball out wide to good effect but again chances were hard to come by due to the mature approach from the hosting side.

In the 2nd half, heads continued to drop and Giles Robertson was sent to the sin bin for a moment of ill discipline which lumped pressure further on the young blues.

Knutsfords only score came out wide after an uncontested scrum resulted in clean ball through the backs hands, Captain Sam Bensky on in the centres ran a strong dumy line and Docherty found Cook out wide. Cook fended off his opposite man and found winger Jannik De-Jong who made a fantastic run down the wing getting caught just before the try line before expertly and intuitively popping the ball up off the ground to the supporting Cook who dotted down out wide. The kick was missed.

Knutsfords tough run continues this Saturday at home vs league leaders Congleton and we would love to see as much support as possible

Player of the match - Jude Clark