LIVERPOOL ST HELENS 18 WILMSLOW 13 (12th NOVEMBER)
Liverpool St Helens kept up their challenge in North One West with a workmanlike victory over Wilmslow. Not at their best, the Moss Laners were pressed all the way by the free running visitors, who had they taken their chances may well have returned to Cheshire with more than a bonus point.
In the end though, the game was won by a moment of opportunism from scrum half Alex McClurg and a rock solid LSH defence that refused to give an inch, particularly in the second half.
After the early exchanges Wilmslow should have gone in front in the 13th minute only to drop the ball with the line at their mercy. With even possession both sides were attacking in turn when one such LSH sortie into Wilmslow territory broke down inviting an immediate counter attack. Three Wilmslow players swept down the left flank and with no one at home in the LSH defence winger Tom Rayner ran in the opening try in the 27th minute, converted by Bob McCallum.
LSH hit back eight minutes later with a sequence of assaults on the Wilmslow line before good work from Mark Williams and Dave Cunliffe set up a driving maul enabling number 8 Phil Kearns to touchdown.. Matt Cunliffe missed the conversion but added a penalty on the stroke of half time to give LSH an 8 – 7 lead.
LSH scored their second and the game’s crucial try four minutes into the second half when Alex McClurg picked up quickly from a ruck twenty metres out and dodged, weaved and then sprinted under the posts. Cunliffe converted.
And then apart from an 80 metre interception by winger Ian Stanley, sensationally caught two metres from the line, the remainder of the game was effectively played in the LSH half. Wilmslow launched a wave of attacks bringing no tries but two successful penalties as well as two misses from McCallum.
The second success came in the 75th minute leaving the score 15-13 and setting up a tension filled last five minutes. The LSH faithful need not have worried. Their team pulled out just enough to triumph with a further penalty from Cunliffe extending their lead just before the end.
And so a busy day at the Lane that started with thirty or so North West paramedics playing a charity match for Ronald McDonald House at Alder Hey Hospital followed by a healthy collection from the crowd as the first XV match ended with a win. Just!
Team
15 Pape 14 Dowell 13 Cunliffe M 12 Cunliffe D 11 Stanley 10 Worsley (capt) 9 McClurg 1 Lourens 2 Bonati
3 Fryer 4 Williams 5 Westhead 6 Bamber 7 Sutherland 8 Kearns Replacements 16 Nevitt (for Fryer 73m) Burrows (for Bamber 54m) Hull ( Dowell 70m)
John Williams
In the end though, the game was won by a moment of opportunism from scrum half Alex McClurg and a rock solid LSH defence that refused to give an inch, particularly in the second half.
After the early exchanges Wilmslow should have gone in front in the 13th minute only to drop the ball with the line at their mercy. With even possession both sides were attacking in turn when one such LSH sortie into Wilmslow territory broke down inviting an immediate counter attack. Three Wilmslow players swept down the left flank and with no one at home in the LSH defence winger Tom Rayner ran in the opening try in the 27th minute, converted by Bob McCallum.
LSH hit back eight minutes later with a sequence of assaults on the Wilmslow line before good work from Mark Williams and Dave Cunliffe set up a driving maul enabling number 8 Phil Kearns to touchdown.. Matt Cunliffe missed the conversion but added a penalty on the stroke of half time to give LSH an 8 – 7 lead.
LSH scored their second and the game’s crucial try four minutes into the second half when Alex McClurg picked up quickly from a ruck twenty metres out and dodged, weaved and then sprinted under the posts. Cunliffe converted.
And then apart from an 80 metre interception by winger Ian Stanley, sensationally caught two metres from the line, the remainder of the game was effectively played in the LSH half. Wilmslow launched a wave of attacks bringing no tries but two successful penalties as well as two misses from McCallum.
The second success came in the 75th minute leaving the score 15-
And so a busy day at the Lane that started with thirty or so North West paramedics playing a charity match for Ronald McDonald House at Alder Hey Hospital followed by a healthy collection from the crowd as the first XV match ended with a win. Just!
Team
15 Pape 14 Dowell 13 Cunliffe M 12 Cunliffe D 11 Stanley 10 Worsley (capt) 9 McClurg 1 Lourens 2 Bonati
3 Fryer 4 Williams 5 Westhead 6 Bamber 7 Sutherland 8 Kearns Replacements 16 Nevitt (for Fryer 73m) Burrows (for Bamber 54m) Hull ( Dowell 70m)
John Williams
REMEMBRANCE