Last weekend saw Didsbury Toc H travel away to sunny Wigan RUFC for a first round encounter in the North West Plate knockout competition.
With a hard pre-season behind them, perfect playing conditions and a strong squad including some fresh faces in the form of Josh Hearn, Ben Platt, Jonny Matthews and Shaun Stephens, the boys were ready to get the season off to a flier.

Some good attacking phases saw Toc H apply the pressure early on in both set piece and open play, however a number of handling errors ensured they could not capitalise on their hard-earned momentum. The solid organisation of the Didsbury attacking line soon proved too much for the Wigan defence as the deadlock was finally broken when workhorse and part time fashionista James Howarth produced a textbook finish to get over the line in the corner.

Wigan appeared to muster up some grunt in response by turning over a number of scrums and forcing errors with fast line speed, but failed to convert any attacking chances as they met formidable, brick wall defence in the mid-field, most notably from number 12 and Man of the Match, Tom Bunn, who bullied the Wigan attack throughout the game with his tireless work ethic and brute-like physicality. The next score soon appeared as winger, Lewis David, pounced on a ball spillage in the centre of the park and cantered in under the sticks to give Didsbury a two try lead.
Once again Wigan rallied the troops in response and with the help of a ‘few’ easy penalties, some sloppy Didsbury defence and a particularly poor attempt at a quadruple miss pass from coach Jonathan ‘Malcolm’ Beardmore, Wigan were gifted a try of their own under the posts to close the points gap as the interval approached.

Some good continuous play and sharp hands saw Toc H regain control and feisty scrummy took advantage of some careless guard work around the ruck to sneak over the line to make the score 17-7 going halftime.
Toc H came out hard in the second half and won some key set piece ball to work their way up the field deep into the Wigan half. Another faultless line-out and quick thinking to hit a wide open short side allowed another Didsbury debutant, Second Row Shaun Stephens to get on the score sheet.

Poor discipline from Toc H once again allowed Wigan back into the game as they were piggy backed down the field with the help of a sequence of careless infringements around the ruck resulting in the concession of soft try under the posts.

Fitness eventually prevailed for the visitors in the final quarter as some seamless running lines and wide-spread attack stretched the exhausted Wigan defence. Another Didsbury try soon came, as pedigree skipper and local hero, and modest author, Rigby hit a seamless line off a perfectly weighted pass from 'new in town' prop Josh Hearn to mince in under the sticks. A final Toc H try was scored by yet another debutant Ben Platt, who shrugged off 4 wigan defenders to sprawl over the line. The end of the game soon followed with the final score finishing 34-14 symbolising a confident yet far from perfect Didsbury performance.

With plenty to work on in the midweek sessions and Toc H will be looking to increase their winning streak next weekend as they travel away to Liverpool Collegiate for the first league game of the season.

MOM - Tom Bunn