Didsbury on fire against Furness

Didsbury faced the daunting task of taking on undefeated North Lancs 1 leaders Furness last Saturday, but it was Didsbury who looked the classier outfit with a commanding 34-8 victory.

Didsbury hadn’t played for seven weeks, due to weather conditions and the Christmas break, but they looked far from rusty in the opening exchanges of the match. Didsbury’s pack had the bit between their teeth and launched wave after wave of quick rucked ball, forcing Furness deep into their own 22. Didsbury were soon awarded a 5 metre attacking scrum, the ball was cleanly struck by captain Mike Hyde, returning from his lengthy injury layoff, and the ball was quickly away from the base of the scrum. The ball was spread right to Dave Hoare and the always dangerous winger dived over in the corner for a fine try. The conversion was missed, but Didsbury weren’t in the mood to sit back and Davies soon slotted a penalty kick to increase the lead to 8 points. Furness were struggling to contain the hard running centre pairing of Dylan Williams and Ashley Chivers who constantly made yards through midfield to set up countless attacking platforms. Williams was rewarded for his efforts with a try, converted by Davies. Furness were able to register some points before half time, having to make do with a consolation penalty. The scores were 15-3 at the interval.

Didsbury could sense that their visitors were there for the taking, and continued the second half in the same vane. Hard work from the tireless Didsbury pack created endless quality ball for the half backs of Popoola and Wilder to distribute. Didsbury soon increased their lead to 22-3 with a powerful drive over the line by second row Phil Cooper. Furness couldn’t find a way to halt the Toc H onslaught and the ball was soon in the hands of Dave Hoare who cleverly worked space to score another try. Didsbury had a commanding lead of 27-3, but good work by Furness created room for their winger to score in the corner to reduce the deficit to 27-8. With only 5 minutes left Didsbury managed to finish with a flourish, seeing Williams crash over on the final whistle to make the final score 34-8.

Didsbury will take a lot of positives from the game, particularly the first start this season for club captain Mike hyde. Next Saturday Didsbury visit Bury in the league.