Brave Wirral Lose Out in Play-off Final

After much discussion amongst the coaches some hard choices had to be made to select the 19 players to represent Wirral in this match. To their credit the majority of players who had played for the first team this season were at Hinckley to support the team. The squad was:
1. Chris Hughes
2. Stuart Gratton
3. Jack Yarker
4. Ryan Stead
5. Paul Lewis
6. Rob Pearl
7. Tom Parry
8. Keith Mahon
9. Joe Murray
10. Craig Harvey
11. Ali Baker
12. Sam Broadbent
13. Dan Harvey
14. Matt Loon
15. Mark Williams
Subs: Chris Tyson, Chris Speed, Matt Brown and Steve Pendergast.
Many of you reading this report were there at the match and the support for the Wirral team was phenomenal; along with the many texts received from around the country and the world (even Ali Childs from New Zealand) it showed the outstanding support for Wirral. Despite spending £350,000 on a new club house the Hinckley pitch was on a significant slope! Wirral played with the slight breeze in the first half.
The early exchanges were in Wirral’s favour and a half break by CRAIG HARVEY took play to 5m from the Hinckley line but the advantage was lost when Wirral gave away one of the three penalties they conceded in the first half. Hinckley were being pegged back with long grubber kicks to touch and the home side‘s response was to kick downfield. On 13 minutes whilst being caught in mid-field in possession, quick passing through a number of hands led to an overlap on the right with MARK WILLIAMS running in from 20m to score close to the corner flag. The try was not converted.
From the kick off the ball was dropped giving possession back to Hinckley but Wirral defended well to stop the thrusts from the Hinckley forwards, a break by the centre was only prevented from scoring with a last ditch tackle by MARK WILLIAMS. From this possession close to the Wirral line, the combined home side pack pushed forward as one and scored wide out, the conversion was missed, 5-5 (18 minutes).
A long kick down field from Wirral was allowed to bounce on a bumpy pitch and the Hinckley full back fumbled giving Wirral presence in the home 20m area but they could not capitalise on this pressure as the ball from the scrum was being taken under pressure. On 26 minutes, Hinckley received the first of their 3 yellow cards when scrum half Joe Glover transgressed. This penalty allowed CRAIG HARVEY to convert the penalty from 20m out, (5-8). MATT BROWN and STEVE PENDERGAST came on for JACK YARKER and CHRIS HUGHES.
A backs move gave ALI BAKER the opportunity to run at the Hinckley defence, he cut inside only to be stopped by a high tackle, which winded the Wirral player, certainly a candidate for another yellow card but nothing was awarded. A penalty took play 5 m from the Hinckley line where Wirral built up pressure on the home side line, a number of thrusts were thwarted before CRAIG HARVEY crashed over a couple of metres from the posts, with DAN HARVEY converting to extend the Wirral lead to 5-15 (37 mins). From the kick-off, Wirral looking to keep this score until half time, did not clear the kick-off, gave away a penalty and Hinckley opted for a 5m line out, cleanly caught and they rumbled over the line to score. The try was not converted but Wirral’s half time lead was reduced to 5 points, 10-15.
At the start of the second half, Hinckley upped the tempo and within 2 minutes, the scores were level as they scored a third try from the same method, a rumble forward from the forwards, the try was not converted. CHRIS SPEED came on for KEITH MAHON and this was followed by another sin bin for the Hinckley No8 and captain. (54 minutes). 3 minutes later, a penalty was awarded to the home side and the scrumhalf, Joe Glover converted from 48m and a further penalty from 25m, 3 minutes later extended the Hinckley lead to 21-15 (60 mins).
With 10 minutes to ago and Wirral having more of the game had good ball in midfield and the backs timed their passes well to release MATT LOON 45 metres out who broke through to draw the full back before releasing MARK WILLIAMS who scored 2 m from the corner flag, the try was not converted. 21-20 (71 minutes). The third yellow card for Hinckley (second row- Matthew Fearn) resulted in a penalty which unfortunately they missed. Wirral kept up the pressure in the Hinckley 20m area and were close to the whitewash and a number of thrusts were thwarted by the home defence. The linesman intervened which resulted in CHRIS SPEED being sin binned, which allowed Hinckley to clear and with it Wirral’s last chance of scoring.
The Hinckley prop, Stephen Harvey made a 50m break which took play down to the Wirral 20m area and again Hinckley were using their forward power to inch forwards, from our viewing, ROB PEARL had stopped the movement but recycled ball allowed a forward to force his way over. The try was converted by Joe Glover, which now meant that Wirral would have to score twice to win the game. In the final play of the game, Hinckley finally brought their backs into play and quick passing gave Sam Greasley the opportunity to score in the corner, following the attempted conversion the final whistle went.
Unfortunately in these circumstances, one team has to lose and the statistics prove that the home team tends to win these play offs but nothing should be taken away from this Wirral side who gave one of their best performances of the season, against a large well organised pack. The away side had the opportunities to add to their score and could have pulled off what would have been an historic win. With the league next season and the majority of the teams we have to play known, it promises to be a stronger league and more travelling for the team. The coaching team should be congratulated on bringing this team so far after only 2 seasons in this league.
Richard McNeil