Life of Riley for Toc H

Didsbury entertained Trafford MV, in a third versus fourth clash in North Lancs 1, with Didsbury coming away with the spoils in a tight 8-5 victory.

The game was played in very foggy conditions, but it was clear from the start that Didsbury were to be the dominant side in the match. Didsbury’s front row of McDonough, Daffyd Williams and Walker were more than a match for their opposite numbers and had the Trafford scrum under pressure all game, restricting the visitors to scrappy possession. Any attacking opportunities by Trafford were soon stuffed out by the well organised home defence, particularly the flourishing centre partnership of Harley and Chivers. Despite being the better side it took a while for Didsbury to open the scoring, and the try scorer was in form winger Paul Riley. A chip through saw Riley speed past the cover defence to win the race for the touch down in the corner. The tricky conversion was missed by Dylan Williams, but the home side had the lead, 5-0. Didsbury had many more chances to score in the first half, but time and again as Didsbury made ground into Trafford’s 22 either a loose pass or a penalty was conceded, allowing the defence to clear their lines. On the stroke of half time Trafford put together their best period of play and the ball was fed to their left winger. The winger managed to evade a last ditch tackle to score in the corner, the conversion was missed which meant both teams were level, 5-5, at half time. Didsbury were disappointed to be level, but knew if the got going the game was there for the taking.

The second half was much the same as the first, with Didsbury constantly conceding penalties to sometimes bazaar refereeing decisions. Didsbury were next on the score sheet with a Pete Davies penalty, Davies came off the bench to make his comeback from a two week injury layoff. Despite some frenetic defending by both teams towards the end of the game, there were no more scores.

The Didsbury coaching staff will be pleased with the vital league points, but will be looking for a more accomplished performance when they visit second place Eccles next Saturday. Also there is positive news that captain Mike Hyde, who hasn’t played all season due to a broken leg, is nearing a comeback.

Elsewhere the second team beat Widnes 2’s 7-14, the third team drew 12-12 with Macclesfield 4’s, and the fourth team lost 10-28 to Broughton’s first team.