Whitehaven 36 – 17 Didsbury Toc H

With atrocious weather greeting the Didsbury side off the coach, the visitors knew they were in for a tussle against a Whitehaven side desperate for points to haul themselves away from the relegation zone.
With changes made to the squad, it saw starting berths for Tony Ames at prop and Tom Gilbart in the second row, which undoubtedly added some bulk to the pack.

Whitehaven were immediately into the attack following the kick off, and managed to create a 3 on 2 overlap and a certain try. But the predatory skills of Dave Hoare saw him intercept and race the 75metres to score. Sean Bishop slotted the conversion from out wide and Didsbury had the early lead 7-0. Unlike previous weeks, where Didsbury have built a lead only to be pegged back, the home side struck back with their potent lineout creating a platform for a rolling maul to drive over the line. The conversion was added and the scores were level. The Didsbury scrum performed well and captain Mike Hyde took a number of strikes against the head creating good service for the backline. A well worked backs move, straight from the training ground, found Hoare who scored his second. The conversion drifted wide, and Whitehaven soon took the lead with a converted try by their stand-off under the posts. At 14-12 and halftime drawing near, Whitehaven had a defensive scrum 5 metres from their own line. Whitehaven’s clearance kick was charged down and Dave Foster pounced to touch down, but the referee deemed him to be offside and Toc H were unlucky not to go in ahead at the break.

With the pitch and conditions worsening, both teams started to keep the ball tight and both packs worked hard to retain possession. Didsbury managed to get a brief stranglehold on the game and from a number of drives Gaz Oakley released speedster Richie Bray, 10 metres out. Bray appeared to score in the corner only for play to be brought back for the touch judge flagging that his foot was in touch. Didsbury’s disappointment was confounded by Whitehaven scoring their third try from a break away, extending the lead to 21-12. Didsbury upped the effort and again forced Whitehaven to defend, and again that man Hoare was on the end of a backs move to complete his hatrick and take his tally to 12 tries for the season. Whitehaven again replied, this time with a penalty, taking the score to 24-17 and both teams in the hunt for the victory. Unfortunately two quick tries by the hosts took them clear and with the five tries won them the match and the vital 5 league points.
The final score of 36-17 was perhaps a bit harsh after the effort put in by the Didsbury squad. Sean Bishop had a fine display and won the man of the match award, despite Dave Hoare recording a hatrick.

Next Saturday Didsbury welcome Eccles to Ford Lane, 3pm kick off. If Didsbury’s recent home games are anything to go by this will be an entertaining encounter.