From my recollection this was the first game between these two sides and game that was played in such a picturesque setting in this lovely part of South Cumbria.
Whilst KL are currently at the bottom of the League, their results have improved in recent weeks and ran Wilmslow close last week before losing a bonus point in the last minute and thus Wirral were expecting a difficult game and this proved to be the case.
Ollie Atkinson after last week’s mishap which meant he had to “pull” out at the 11th hour was pronounced fit to play against his home town club and resumed at full back. From the side selected Harry Broadbent had to pull out and Ross Page resumed in the back row. Dave Doneo moved up to the second row, the centre partnership of Phil Donaldson and Dan Harvey continued. On the bench were Chris Tyson, Paul Sherlock and Richard McMillan.
The kick off was delayed until 2.30 and with the clouds gathering, some questions were asked as to whether the game could be completed in day light. Wirral played with the advantage of the slight cross wind and down the “slope” in the first half.
An excellent kick off by Sam Broadbent saw the ball bounce into touch some 6 metres from the KL line. The resultant line out was missed by the KL jumper but with the line at their mercy, Wirral knocked on, but from the resultant scrum, KL infringed and from the 5m penalty, Ali Childs took quickly and fed leading try scorer, Tim Hodson to plunge over the line 10m in from touch. The conversion by Danny was missed but an excellent start in this difficult fixture. 0- 5. Thereafter Wirral looked to attack at every opportunity but passes were dropped.
KL gradually got back into the ground and Wirral had a scrum 15 m from their line only to see a push from the KL scrum and Wirral lost 10m of ground. Penalty to KL, who decided on a scrum rather than kick for goal. Eventually Wirral cleared with a break by Robbie Pearl but the pass to the winger Martin McNeil was behind him. Further scrimmaging to KL and a series of penalties against Wirral, led to Steve Pendergast being sin binned after 15 mins. The opposing prop was boring in and the KL pack could not keep the scrum steady but the referee decided Steve was at fault.
After 22 mins the KL scrum half had a penalty chance from 25m out but the kick went clear. At this stage Steve returned to the field and Wirral were fortunate that they had not suffered points wise from his absence. KL were still pressing but with the ball dropped in the backs, Martin McNeil hacked the ball down field some 60m only for the ball to beat the winger and covering defence by finding touch in the KL 20m area. Wirral continued to create chances but the final pass was not finding the supporting players or being dropped, which is an unusual aspect for this Wirral side. However with Half Time approaching Wirral were awarded a penalty from 32m out on the left some 12 m in from touch only for Danny to just miss. However on the stroke of half time, another opportunity came from the right hand side but much further out and this time Danny converted. 0-8 at half time.
The match continued in the same vein in the second half with KL kicking for territory feeling that they could continue to pound away at the Wirral defence and gain success that way. A kick to the Wirral line was picked up by Ali Baker who instead of touching down went on a run using his pace and beat several KL players, gaining some 30m before the next pass went down. Ollie Atkinson was solid at full back and made a number of probing runs but breaks were breaking down with the final pass not going to hand.
A penalty to KL was quickly taken and this was their first real chance but again with an open run to the line, Wirral’s defence managed to get back to stop this opportunity. KL had a penalty kick from 22m but this was again missed. After 20mins of the second half, Wirral made two changes, Chris Tyson for Chris Hughes, with Dave Doneo going to prop and Richard McMillan on for Martin McNeil.
Three mins later, KL had a 5m line out and tried to maul over the line, the scrum half picked up with a view to passing left but from 5m out dummied his way over the line and then duly converted to leave the score 7-8. KL then continued to attack Wirral with a series of onslaughts but the Wirral line remained resolute. At this stage Wirral were coming more into the game and a number of breaks were made but could not just finish off these moves. With 6 mins of time remaining Wirral were awarded a penalty from some 40m out, 20m in from touch but to kick across the cross wind, but Danny slotted the kick between the posts to extend the lead to 7-11.
Wirral then looked to shut up shop by playing in tight amongst the forwards which gradually ate up the time and with 2 mins to go a final replacement was made with Paul Sherlock coming on for Ross Page, immediately Paul was in action with two vital tackles. With time running out, a kick from KL appeared to bounce out of play over the Wirral line but the officials awarded a 5m line out, KL were now on the Wirral line but again the defence held tight and the final play came with KL on the Wirral line only for the KL scrum half to knock on and for the referee to call time as the light faded.
A welcome win for Wirral who made a number of half breaks but could not capitalize on these with passes not going to hand or being dropped, an aspect that coach Andy McKinney has been working on in training recently. After the last few weeks were Wirral have played well without any reward, this was just reward for the endeavor they put in this season.

Richard McNeil