Wirral win top of table clash

On a day when not many games were played in the area, Wirral enjoyed a large crowd for this top of the table clash against Bowdon, who had beaten them earlier in the season. A heavy ground would appear to be ideal conditions for Bowdon, with their large pack, to exploit their kicking game.

Early pressure from Bowdon resulted in them taking an early lead with a penalty for offside which Brian Capewell converted. They almost scored again when they mauled their way over the Wirral line only to knock on. It was some 10 minutes before Wirral were able to get into the oppositions half through running the ball down the backs. From play within the Bowdon 22, a half break by Sam Broadbent led to Ali Childs putting in a kick to the corner where Ali Baker outpaced his opposing winger to score from half way out. The try was converted by Danny Harvey.

Pressure continued from Bowdon and Capewell missed a penalty from some 30m out, which resulted in Bowdon then going for touch when they had penalties, in an attempt to get a push over try given their bigger pack. Before half time Prendergast was sin binned for bringing down a maul, yet with one man short Wirral kept out Bowdon, a testament to Wirral's defensive capabilities.

The second half saw a reverse of the first half with Wirral now applying pressure to Bowdon, who for a period of time were down to 13 men following the sin binning of 2 players. From the second of these sin binnings, Danny Harvey scored his second penalty of the half to ease Wirral into a 13-3 lead. However there was no place for complacency as Wirral were fully aware of Bowdon's attacking capabilities through their South African centres and other Commonwealth players. At this stage Colin Dyer and Phil Donaldson had come on for Tom Clegg and Stu Hughes.

The match was decided 10 minutes from the end, with a scrum some 5 m from the Bowdon line and against a tiring pack the young Wirral side scored a push over try through Ben Marsh. The try was not converted. The try was a just reward for the hard work undertaken by the pack in stemming the much larger and experienced Bowdon pack. In the last move of the match with Wirral putting pressure on a Bowdon scrum, Rob Pearl swooped on a loose ball to give Ali Baker a run in for his second try from some 25m out. The try was not converted. The referee who had an excellent game in difficult conditions blew for time with Wirral running out winners 23-3.

Although the score appears convincing, the game was in doubt until Wirral scored their second try.This gives Wirral a 3 point lead over Bowdon at the top of the league but there are several difficult matches ahead with Winnington Park away next week, who have crept up the league after a poor start and are now in 4th position. This was an excellent game played in difficult conditions and praise should go to the ground staff for getting this game played thus reducing a potential fixture backlog later in the season.

This was an excellent all round team performance.