Didsbury Toc H 35 – 5 Workington

Workington, much fancied as league contenders pre-season, had suffered a loss of form of late and would have been desperate to get their season back on track with a victory at Ford Lane. Didsbury named a strong line up, but a reshuffle of the backline saw experienced centre Dylan Williams starting at fly-half and the exiting young tyro Austin Irwin at outside centre.

Toc H struck first; with Workington under pressure they conceded a penalty which Sean Bishop obliged by converting. Workington immediately replied with a well taken try, after several phases of pressure on the Didsbury line. The conversion was missed, but Workington had their tails up and the lead at 3-5. Didsbury upped their intensity and Bishop regained the lead with another penalty, 6-5. Didsbury’s defence was unyielding and regularly turned defence into attack, with some big tackles being put in by Irwin, Joseph and Southall. Williams was now orchestrating his backline, and when Bishop joined the line from fullback and found Dave Hoare on the wing there was only going to be one outcome. Hoare cleverly skipped past his opposite number and raced into the corner for the first try of the game. Bishop missed the tricky kick, but atoned for the miss with his third penalty just before the half time whistle.

A lead of 14-5 at the break was by far not convincing enough for the home side to relax, as the visitors still looked potent in the attacks they were limited to.

Didsbury’s impressive display got even better in the second half as the pack started to really impose themselves on their opposite numbers, disrupting the Zebra’s scrums and lineouts. This was the opposite of the Didsbury set pieces, which created quality ball for the backline to attack the tiring visitors defence. A clever kick through by Perkins Joseph saw Williams win the race to touch the ball down for Didsbury deserved second try. Bishop converted and stretched the lead to 21-5. The tries kept coming with Southall capitalising on a defensive mix up, to steal the ball, and score under the posts. Bishop converting. Didsbury’s rolling maul has proved a potent weapon this season, and from a close range lineout the pack crashed over the tryline. Skipper Mike Hyde claimed the try, his second in as many games, and secured the bonus point for four tries. Bishop continued his fine kicking performance with another conversion, allowing Didsbury to close the game out at 35-5.

An outstanding performance by the whole squad, with the man of the match award going to Austin Irwin on his home debut. The victory takes Didsbury to fourth in the league. Next Saturday Didsbury have a break from the league with a visit to Garstang in the Lancashire Plate.