Whitchurch 33 vs Winnington Park 5
This was a game when Whitchurch were looking for revenge following the close defeat at Winnington earlier in the season. Winnington started the brighter of the 2 teams and were using their backs well attacking keeping Whitchurch camped in their own 22 metre line. The home team defended brilliantly with the whole team tackling well and kept the visitors scoreless. It wasn’t until the half hour mark when Whitchurch had their first break and it looked like winger Jed Towers had scored in the corner only for the referee to say he had been tackled into touch. It was then back to serious defending again for the reds but managed to keep them out until the half time break going in at 0:0
The first minute of the first half though saw the first score with the home team trying to pass the ball out of defence only for Winnington to steal the ball and their fly half kicked the ball over the defence for their winger to catch and score the first try of the game. They missed the conversion, and this spurred on the home team. 10 minutes later Nathan Horton was gifted the ball by the half way line and ran past 3 tackles to score by the touchline. Robbie Leighton then converted with a great strike from the touchline to put the home side ahead 7:5. Just 2 minutes later Nathan again caught the ball in the lineout and broke through the Winnington defence but was hauled down just short of the line. The forwards secured the ball and Steve Bloore drove over for the 2nd. try by the posts. Leighton converted again. Half way through the half Whitchurch increased their lead with some good passing and allowed centre Isaac Wilding to cross the line again which was converted again by Leighton, 21:5
On the half hour mark man of the match Horton stole the ball and made 25 metres before passing to hooker Jake Bailey who passed on to Ricky Allman to run the last 12 metres to score by the touchline. Whitchurch were now in total control of the game and confidence was high as Robbie Leighton got the ball on the half way line chipped over the first line of defence, caught the ball himself and chipped the fullback again and the ball bounced perfectly for him to catch off the bounce again to score one of the best individual tries of the season. This was converted by James Marvell to leave the final score Whitchurch 33 Winnington Park 5
This was a hard won victory for the reds who defended brilliantly in the first half and the power of the forwards in the second half was impressive as the away team ran out of steam. This was good to see as there were representatives from Belton Farm cheesemakers one of the clubs major sponsors.
The 1st team are away at Altrincham Kersal next week with a 3pm kick off.
The 2nd team played a friendly game against the “Flaming Unicorns” a charity team raising money for “Tough enough to care” a charity all about raising money for male mental health. The home team won 32 :15 but the real winner was the charity which raised over £1000. A great day all round at the club.
The 2nd. team are away at Spartans in Birmingham next weekend in a battle for the top of the league.
