Orrell 52-27 Didsbury Toc H 1st XV

Orrell (A)– 17th September

Didsbury travelled to Orrell with a much changed side from the one that took on Bury, however, the away side were still confident of a good result, given the increased depth across the playing squad and competition for places. However, what followed was one of Toc’s poorer performances for several years. That is to take nothing away from a good Orrell side, who were sharper and hungrier all afternoon, on a heavy pitch in scorching conditions. Having taken a lighter bench, Toc were further disrupted ahead of kick off by a recurrence of injuries to Enita Okodiko and Will Thompson, leaving them with only two substitutes.

The tone of the game was set in the opening minutes, when an attempted chip/clearance kick from one of Didsbury’s front-row (!) was fielded by Orrell’s strong running 12, in plenty of space with men outside him. The try was put away nicely and Orell continued to threaten with ball in hand, scoring a further three tries and a penalty in the first half. Didsbury struggled to get into the match, with their lineout malfunctioning and a poor defensive shape, allied to some questionable decision-making, however managed to claw their way back into the game through tries from Owen McIntosh and debutant Rob Hutchinson (who impressed in his first game for the club), along with a penalty from Oli Thomas. With a score of 25-17 at the break, Didsbury were, against all odds, still in the game.

Not for long though, Orrell scored shortly after half time, to which Didsbury responded with a Dave Hoare try, as he latched onto Neil Wilkinson’s good long pass. Another Hoare try was bookended by several more for Orrell, with the net result being a 52-27 final score. Although they secured a bonus point for scoring four tries, this was a poor Didsbury performance, which was a mile away from some of the positive work done in pre-season. All credit to Orrell for a thoroughly deserved win, we look forward to seeing you back at ours later in the season. Toc have plenty to work on and ponder, ahead of next week’s game against Garstang, and will need to significantly lift their levels of performance if they are to challenge for honours this season.