Fleetwood 15 – 3 Didsbury Toc H

Didsbury Toc H came away from a sodden Fleetwood empty handed, last Saturday in North Lancs & Cumbria, going down 15-3 to the in-form and promotion chasing Fleetwood.

Following a pitch inspection the game went ahead on the very wet pitch, the decision made with both teams unwilling to postpone a further match and add to the already backlogged fixture list. Fleetwood had first use of the howling gale at their backs, and would want a lead by half time before they had to turn round. The home side were immediately on the front foot, and only some fine Didsbury defence kept their hosts at bay. With Fleetwood unable to open up the visitors defence they took the lead through a well taken penalty kick, to lead 3-0. With mistakes a plenty from both sides the majority of the first half was spent scrummaging. Didsbury continually repelled the Fleetwood’s attacks, and the back three of Perkins, Rooney and Bishop dealt comfortably with any attacking kicks. There were no more scores before halftime, thanks to a try saving tackle by Didsbury skipper Mike Hyde when the Fleetwood number 9 looked certain to touch down. Didsbury would have been pleased with their defensive efforts in the first half.

The pitch was clearly deteriorating further, and the supporters along with the referee were starting to struggle to tell the two sides apart in the thick mud.

Didsbury kicked off the second half and immediately won a scrum, from which a clever kick by Gaz Oakley forced Fleetwood to throw in a lineout close to their own tryline. Didsbury’s James Eames caught the ball and the Didsbury pack drived for the line. A penalty was awarded for Fleetwood straying offside, which Bishop calmly converted to level the game 3-3. Fleetwood, unable to kick into the string wind, were forced to use their pack to run the ball at every opportunity. This gave them some field position, and an attacking lineout. The resulting drive was initially stopped by Didsbury, but the ball was quickly recycled to the awaiting Fleetwood support runner who managed to force his way over, and the referee awarded the try. There were some questions over the grounding of the ball, but the conversion was soon added and Fleetwood again had the lead 10-3. The game then became a stagnant affair, with both teams taking it in turns to make a mistake and the ball back to their opposition. Midway through the second half Didsbury were reduced to 14 players, with second row Phil Cooper sent to the sin bin. Fleetwood, buoyed by the man advantage, were able to score from a pushover try. The conversion was missed, but the lead was stretched to 15-3. Despite some good work in the closing stages by Anton Vasseur and Dave Hoare, Didsbury couldn’t create a telling chance of another score.

Didsbury welcomes Oldham to Ford Lane next Saturday, 2:15pm kick off. Oldham are currently bottom of the league , but will be desperate for the points to try and stave off the treat of relegation.