Wirral Victory Marred by Injury to Chris Burrows

The first half of this match was dour but matters improved in the second half as the Wirral forwards showed their supremacy but the game was marred by a serious injury to flanker, Chris Burrows in the closing minutes of the game.
What a contrast in the weather on this day as we travelled to Morley, leaving Clatterbridge with a heavy frost overnight. As we went east the evidence of frost disappeared but when going over Saddleworth Moor, blue skies were evident and no fog. Dropping down into the valley, the fog was closing in and by the time we reached the ground at Morley it was difficult to see from one end of the ground to the other. The referee indicated the game was playable and in the minutes before the start of the game the fog lifted and all the pitch was now viewable. The pitch itself was well grassed but heavy underfoot.
From the team selected there was a late change when CHRIS HUGHES pulled out through illness and was replaced by STEVE PENDERGAST. The only other changes were on the subs bench where ALI BAKER came in for his first game of the season, the other subs were JACVK YARKER and JAMES REEVE.
The early stages saw play in Wirral’s half as Morley were playing with confidence and much determination and Wirral were having difficulty in clearing the ball downfield. On 6 minutes, Morley had the opportunity to take the lead but the penalty was missed. It took some 12 minutes before Wirral got into the Morley half and a half break by CHRIS BURROWS took play into the 20m area. From a resultant scrum, Wirral took the scrum against the head and were pressing the Morley line, a penalty to Wirral was given but they played the ball out wide and just failed to score with the penalty advantage had gone. At this stage it was Morley who were passing the ball down their backs with confidence and whilst the Wirral defence were able to hold them, the home team were able to make ground.
On 23 minutes Morley took the lead with a penalty from 25m out in front of the posts. From the kick off, Morley dropped the ball and were caught off side allowing Wirral to kick for touch and a 10m line out, caught by CHRIS BURROWS who passed to PAUL LEWIS and onto the onrushing SAM BROADBENT who crashed over the whitewash to score. Converted by JAMES ANNETTS. 3-7 (26 mins). JACK YARKER came on for RYAN HIGGINSON
Wirral’s tactics of kicking high and long was now starting to pay dividends as the Morley backs were fumbling a number of these kicks but could not press home their advantage and in the minutes before half time, Morley had one further penalty kick opportunity, which was to be their last of the match but this was missed. In the minute before half time, JACK YARKER was sin binned after retaliating to Morley rough play with a “slap”.
At the next scrum after half time, RYAN HIGGINSON came back to go into the front row and CHRIS BURROWS was sacrificed. After the sin bin was over, JACK YARKER came on for STEVE PENDERGAST. In the second half, Wirral who had the coach’s comments ringing in their ears had clearly stepped up a gear and with penalties in their favour were kicking to the corners seeking 5m line outs. On 53 minutes, Wirral had a 5m scrum and then another where they pushed the Morley scrum back and ROB PEARL was on hand to pick up and score, the try was not converted. JAMES REEVE came on for PAUL LEWIS.
On 63 minutes, ALI BAKER came on for MARK WILLIAMS and in the first two minutes of being on the field , Ali made two prominent runs, one of which resulted in play 5m from the Morley line, JOE MURRAY went blind only to be tackled 1m from the line. Pressure was now coming from Wirral and after a number of thrusts from the away side forwards, RYAN HIGGINSON crashed over the line to give Wirral a comfortable 3-17 lead. Wirral were now in full control and from play 25m out, CRAIG HARVEY delayed his pass to ROB PEARL, who raced through the gap and scored under the posts without any defender getting near him and more importantly the try bonus point. JAMES ANNETTS converted to extend the lead to 3-24 (74 minutes).
From Wirral’s next attack, CHRIS BURROWS made progress and was tackled and it became immediately apparent that he was injured and physios were soon attending. Play was held up for about 10 minutes until CHRIS was stretched off. It appears that he has broken and dislocated his ankle. The ambulance eventually came. We wish Chris a speedy recovery and look forward to seeing him at the club as a spectator in the next few weeks. In the early hours of this morning, Ray brought Chris back to Arrowe Park in a temporary cast and will see a specialist on Wednesday to decide on the operation to be undertaken.
Wirral suggested that the match be ended but Morley wished to play out the remaining 4 minutes. Wirral continued in the same vein with PAUL LEWIS coming on to make up the fifteen and with virtually the final play of the game, a Wirral line out 5 m from the Morley line went straight to TOM PARRY who touched down unopposed, to leave the final score 3-29.
Wirral still lie in 3rd place in the league as all the other teams around them won except for Sandal’s loss at home to Hull. Next week Wirral are at home to Cleckheaton, be aware that the kick off may be brought forward to 2.00 pm
Richard McNeil