1st XV
Matches
Sat 24 Mar 2018  ·  South Lancs & Cheshire Division 2
Marple
0
62
Didsbury Toc H RFC
1st XV
PICK & GO CENTRAL AND THE BOX-KICK BLITZ.

PICK & GO CENTRAL AND THE BOX-KICK BLITZ.

Arthur Crabtree26 Mar 2018 - 12:05
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MARCH ROUND UP

MARCH ROUND UP - PICK & GO CENTRAL AND THE BOX-KICK BLITZ.

Given the lack of individual match reports, for which I apologise, here’s an idea of the themes (and hopefully) some of the scorers from our last few games.

March has provided Toc H with plenty of practice at defending pick-and-gos. At times the team have done it reasonably well (Dukinfield and Marple); at others, pretty poorly (Heaton Moor).

Moor, to be fair, chucked in a thousand box kicks to mix things up a bit - but for the most part, the past month can best be defined as a battle for possession between Toc’s backs and opposition forwards.

It’s been attritional stuff. Toc’s desire to open up games and play with endeavour has yielded mixed results. That said, the personnel changes that Didsbury have gone through since the new year has contributed to a real lack of accuracy in key areas of the pitch.

Their wastefulness hasn’t quite reached the epic levels of December and January - but it has still come back to haunt them at big moments in games. Fijian Fusion, Toc call it. Only without the Fijian. And the Fusion. Orrell at home was the nadir of missed opportunities and Toc will have to be sharper in their execution with Orrell, Wigan and Liverpool Collegiate to play back-to-back in April. At that stage planning for next season will begin in earnest.

On Saturday, there were some encouraging signs of cohesion away at Marple. The home side can count themselves a little unlucky to face a Toc team at almost full-strength for the first time in 2018. The match lasted 63 minutes before the sides decided enough was enough at 64-0. As one of their forwards graciously commented afterwards: “Well played; I’d like to say I enjoyed that - but I didn’t!”

Dukinfield provided a much sterner test at the start of the month - but the fast surface at Platt Lane eventually played to Toc’s running game. Didsbury ended up winning 48-17, a scoreline which flattered them. Full-back Rory Gibson ran riot in the second half. Hooker Mike Hyde also crossed for a couple of workmanlike tries. Until the hour mark, this was a tightly-contested affair. Yes, it always looked as if Toc would have enough to secure the win - but it was a closer game than the final result suggested.

The Heaton Moor game was also played at Platt Lane. Light rain just before kick off made handling conditions difficult and Toc coughed up plenty of ball, often in good attacking positions. The visitors did a good job of starving Toc of possession with their tight, direct game and clean ball retention - but defensively, Toc always looked pretty comfortable and were more than happy to play on the counter-attack and from turnover ball.

It was largely picket fence rugby between the 10 metre lines until…a bizarre moment: Jonny Naish was penalised and spoken to by the referee for a rugby tackle. That allowed Moor easy and undeserved access to the Toc 22 from where they efficiently drove over for the opening score. In what was so obviously going to be a low-scoring game, that was a big momentum shift. In the second half - which was agonisingly static - the visitors crossed for a couple of other tries from pick-and-gos and then slowly suffocated Toc with a barrage - arguably a blitz - of box-kicks.

Moor got their tactics after the break spot on; Didsbury didn't get their execution right. They couldn't play with the tempo they wanted. When Toc did manage to get some clean ball - the lineout struggled in the second half - several timely turnovers from the Moor number 8, who also carried well, too often halted their momentum. He was unquestionably the stand out player of a forgettable afternoon.

April is a big month for Toc. Some scores to settle and some big performances needed as they chase 5th position in their first season in South Lancashire and Cheshire Two.

Next week, Oldershaw (home) 3pm. Ford Lane.

Match details

Match date

Sat 24 Mar 2018

Kickoff

15:00

Competition

South Lancs & Cheshire Division 2

League position

5
Didsbury Toc H
12
Marple
Team overview
Further reading

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