A Rare Treat ... a 3rd XV Match Report!

Saturday brought yet another trip up the M56 to our Mancunian second home, this time to those old rivals Altrincham Kersal. AK have had a similarly unsuccessful season to our own and so it was always going to be tight, with pride and a potential wooden spoon at stake.
An early start to ensure decent preparation was only interfered with by the frustratingly common "will they or won't they show up"? In a great display of club strength in depth our stoic leader was let down by 18 players and still managed a full team with two subs.
The weekly get to know you session gave way to a warm up, a change of pitch and the game began.
Maybe it was that lack of familiarity, or maybe there were those who thought our lofty position was a guarantee of a sure fire win. Either way before we could draw breath the home side had fed their largest player twice and two scores were registered.
Wirral then entered the game, started to win some ball and made progress towards the low sun.
There commenced a period of attack and counter with neither side creating too much to trouble the other.
Wirral scored to get a foothold in the game only to give away another.
At the turn around the Wirral team made a couple of changes and felt they had a real chance of turning fortunes too.
A fluency began to come and some good tries were scored. Solid set piece ball, clear lines from the backs and good suport to bring young Michael Van Der Zwan a brace.
The game was there for the taking and Wirral occupied plenty of position and possession. But small errors and relieving kicks allowed AK off the hook.
A sustained attack by AK lead to their knock on ahead of the line, the referee missed it and when the ball emerged from a ruck from the side AK were on hand to dot down.
At the other end a typically abrasive charge from skipper Jamie Savage was halted just short of the line, we will argue the following reach and touch down was well scored, the referee thought otherwise. Ten points the difference (perhaps more as our kicking was better) and the scoring was finished.
So is it "if only" the ref had seen it our way? or should we have been out of sight by then? The truth is probably neither, but with some more resolute tackling and a more consistent selection we wouldn't be where we are today.
There is no shortage of effort or commitment on match day. Perhaps a little more for the rest of the week would grant the stability and foundation from which to win some more games.
The stand out player in this game, agreed by all, was winger Rich. Some great tackling and hard running my the man in tights. Well done.
Home game to Winnington Park this week, the upturn starts here........