Big win over Oswestry sees Wirral go top

This match represented the end of the first half of the league matches this season and was a new fixture for the Wirral side. Wirral put out one of their strongest sides this season, with Tim Hodson coming into the second row, Ollie Atkinson to centre and the subs being Ryan Harvey, Phil Donaldson and Martin Bennett.

Their was no wind but with the rain during the week the pitch was heavy but well grassed and in good condition. There was good support from the Wirral club which outnumbered the home supporters. One interesting fact is that the match was refereed by a lady.

In the early exchanges it was evident that Oswestry had the bigger pack but Wirral were keen to get the ball out to their backs. From the first attack, Danny Harvey was injured in his first tackle and this effected him to some extent during the game. From a scrum on the half way, a blindside attack resulted in a line out 5m from the Oswestry line, which resulted in Sam Broadbent running with the ball, dummying players before scoring close to the posts with the conversion being missed by Danny.
5- 0 after 7 minutes.

From the kick off, Wirral gave away a penalty but Oswestry spurned the opportunity to have a kick for goal but went for a 5m line out which was eventually cleared by Wirral. Oswestry returned the kick which was collected by Baker who made 50m before passing to Robbie Pearl who was hauled down some 10 m from the Oswestry line, from the resulting maul, the line was attacked and a further drive down the blindside led to Robbie Pearl diving over after 15 mins. with Danny converting from the touchline. Score 12-0. Immediately from the kick off a good catch and drive by Dave Doneo, allowed Wirral to pass the ball down the line, with Ali Baker making good ground before passing to Robbie Pearl, on to Ollie Atkinson and a final pass to Danny Harvey who scored out on the left, again converted. Score 19-0 after 16 minutes.

With Oswestry kicking off, Wirral did not collect the ball and allowed Oswestry to advance into our 22. This was a good phase for Oswestry and they were awarded a penalty under the Wirral posts, a quick free kick was taken and after being held up under the Wirral posts, they managed to scramble over for a try, which was duly converted. 19- 7 after 20 minutes.

At this stage, both teams were looking to play attacking rugby but the Wirral backs were far slicker with good support from the mobile forwards. From the kick off, Oswestry were again under pressure and from a scrum 30m out the ball went through several pairs of hands before reaching Stu Hughes, who went round his winger before passing inside for Ali Baker backing up to score after 23 minutes. The try was converted 26-7. There was now continual pressure from Wirral, which Oswestry did not have an answer to, as all 15 Wirral players were backing each other up, with the ball spinning left and right. From the Oswestry 20m Dave Doneo made a break for the line but was tackled just short, from the resultant maul, another member of this young, excellent back row, Ross Page crashed over for a try, with Danny again converting 33-7 after 27 minutes.

Again Wirral missed the kick off and Oswestry advanced to the Wirral 22, were they set up an attack and started to pass the ball down the line where they had an overlap, only for Danny Harvey to intercept, who knowing he did not have the speed to score looked for the support of Ali Baker who ran in from 70m after outpacing two of the would be covering tacklers, again converted 40-7. After 36 minutes, an Oswestry player was yellow carded for holding onto the ball, (who can blame him- but the penalty seemed to be harsh). From the line out, Wirral received the ball and with excellent backing up from all, made ground resulting in Chris Hughes crashing over 7 m from the posts, but the try was not converted.

Half time came after only 38 mins with the score 45-7, more than a point a minute. The first half had been an exhibition of attacking rugby on a heavy pitch and we were all looking for more of the same in the second half. However the rain had commenced and became a steady downpour, which made the ground very heavy and the ball slippery. Ryan Harvey came on for Ben Marsh at half time.

Wirral commenced where they had left off, with a good break from Adam Stevens from 60 m out. He drew the full back before passing to Ali Baker who ran in for his hat trick, with the try being converted 52-7. After another 10 mins a further passage of good inter play left Ali Baker going over for his fourth try, again converted. After 50 mins the score was 59-7.

Relacements then made with Phil Donaldson coming on for Stu Hughes and Ollie Atkinson going to the wing. The funniest part of the game then occured with Phil Donaldson taking his first pass, breaking through the tackle of his opposite number, drawing the full back and giving a perfect pass to Ollie Atkinson, who had an open run to the line but dropped the ball. Suitable derisory comments were made from the Wirral supporters, these continued in the car back to the club as he was with coach, Andy McKinney and again when he arrived back at the club.

After 15 minutes the last of the changes were made with Martin Bennett coming on for Sam Broadbent and slotting in at stand off. Wirral continued to press but the conditions were now against open attacking play and Oswestry were looking to control the ball in their forwards, in order to make progress and to keep the score down. At this stage after 20 minutes, Ali Baker had a hamstring twinge and was brought off immediately to protect him for the next two important matches. Having made all the substitutes, Wirral had to play the final 20 minutes with 14 players.

Oswestry were coming more into the game and their dangerous left winger was tackled some 5 m from the line, but Wirral recovered and cleared. The game was now getting bogged down in mid field due to the worsening weather conditions and the difficulty in identifying your own players. However Wirral still had time to score one more try, with a good break by Jason Green, who passed onto Martin Bennett, who was only identifiable by having a cleaner jersey than the rest and who ran in from 35m, The try was not converted, score at 32mins 64-7.

The game was restricted to the mid field for the remainder of the game, with the referee again blowing up early, but no one was complaining.

This was an excellent win for Wirral to finish the first half of the season with only 2 defeats from 13 matches but with a points difference of some 358. Later we were to find that Wirral were now top, following Anselmians doing Wirral a favour by beating the previous leaders, Bowdon.

It would be unfair to single out any individual, but Tim Hodson played well on his return to the first team in a performance where all the players were supporting each other. It is evident that Wirral have a good squad of some 25 players to enable them to continue in the same vein in the second half of the season. This starts next week with a visit to Widnes, who are currently lying 4th and have always been strong opponents in this league. Your support will be welcome.

ONLOOKER