Wolves win against Altrincham Kersal with last quarter tries

Traditionally the rugby season opened on 1st. September but in recent seasons it’s crept forward to the last Saturday of August to accommodate the early rounds of the county cup competitions. For the second year in succession, Wilmslow drew Altrincham Kersal in round 1 of the Cheshire Vase. Last season the game at Stelfox went Kersal’s way but a terrible season followed for them as they were eventually relegated from the N1W League.

This season’s Wolves are still very much work in progress. Most of last season’s players have returned, there has been the normal influx of colts moving into senior rugby and a handful of incomers, the most notable of whom is Ed Stobart, of formerly Sale Sharks, Sedgley Park and Macclesfield. On paper, it all looks reasonably promising but there’s the usual crop of pulled hamstrings, torn ligaments and dodgy backs to restrict selection choice and, despite run outs at Alnwick and against a Macclesfield selection earlier in the week, they’ve yet to put in a convincing performance.

It was a win, snarled Wilmslow coach Rick Jones afterwards, clearly not satisfied with what he had witnessed. After a bright start which yielded two tries in the first quarter for Ben Day and Alex Taylor, augmented by a MacCallum penalty, the side started to show again all its old fault lines. The scrums creaked, whatever combination of prop and hooker was tried, the lineout had Mike Clifford leaping into space but no ball in reach or sight, good ball was lost in rucks, spilt with wayward passing and turned over by the visitors, who visibly grew in stature as the game progressed.

The middle period of the game was dominated by the stalwart citizens of Kersal. They didn’t possess the pace outside that Wilmslow had but they knew what their strengths were and how to retain possession when they won it or were given it by careless Wilmslow play and there was a surfeit of that. Their pack waxed whilst Wilmslow’s waned. Fly half Jack Emmers got them onto the scoreboard as the half hour approached with a penalty, conceded in front of the posts. Ten minutes later, whilst Wilmslow’s frustrated James Keys was spending time in the bin after a kerfuffle with several opposition players, Ben Davies finished off a period close to the Wilmslow line with a short range score and worse was to follow in the second half, which saw the Wolves penned back into their own half for fully twenty minutes, when AK second row Steve Richardson deservedly scored their second try to briefly put them in front by 15-13. Despite relegation, several of their better players have returned to the club after finding that the grass wasn’t any greener elsewhere, and consequently AK look a stronger outfit than they were last season.

And then the tide turned. MacCallum put a long penalty into touch close to the Kersal line. The Wolves caught and drove, and when the ball was released there was sufficient support for Harry Patch on the right wing to drive him over. Finally, MacCallum broke through a gap on half way and Ben Day, doing what he does best, took a line at pace on his shoulder and outstripped everyone for an excellent try and the winning score. An anxious final ten minutes followed with Wilmslow still doing their best to hand the game over to Kersal and with both sides having their chances.

Former Wilmslow High School players, Harry Patch, Rob Taylor and Callum Westaway all acquitted themselves well in their Wolves debut, Westaway earning the man of the match award for his assured play at full back