Didsbury Toc H 10 – 27 Fleetwood

Didsbury, who started their league campaign with three victories, only had themselves to blame as three first half mistakes lead to Fleetwood capitalising with three tries and a 0-17 scoreline at the break.
The home side were able to name a good starting lineup, welcoming back Andy Lynn who replaced the injured Shaun Walker in the second row.

Didsbury started the game well, but the tone was soon set for the remainder of the half, as numerous Didsbury attacks were thwarted by a mixture of well organized Fleetwood defence and uncharacteristic errors. Fleetwood, to their credit, exploited every error made by Didsbury and soon scored an unconverted try to lead 0-5. Again Didsbury turned over ball in a key attacking area and were again punished with a second try. The pattern continued as Didsbury looked certain to score, but it was Fleetwood who raced the length of the pitch to touch down in the corner. At 0-17 down at halftime the Didsbury team had to lift themselves and cut out the needless errors.

Fleetwood started the second half well, extending their lead to twenty points with a well taken drop goal. Didsbury then had their best spell of the game forcing Fleetwood to defend deep in their own territory. The pressure paid off when scrum half Gaz Oakley found number 8 Chris Matthews who forced his way over from close range. The conversion was missed, but Didsbury struck again soon after. A trademark break by second row Phil Cooper down the left wing, lead to an offload to James Southall who crashed over for his second try of the season. The conversion went just wide, and the gap was closed to 10-20. Despite having more chances to score in the remainder of the half, Didsbury couldn’t quite finish any of their waves of attacks. Fleetwood managed to score a fourth try, and gain a winning bonus point before the final whistle.

Didsbury will rue their poor first half, but will take heart from a better second half performance. Next Saturday Didsbury visit Oldham looking to get their season back on track.