Didsbury Toc H 24 - 10 Upper Eden

There was again need for the selection committee to shuffle the match day squad, with Tony Ames coming in at prop, Andre Swan returning in the back row, Dylan Williams bolstering the centres, and promising back Sam Moore making his first start for the club on the wing.

For yet another week the game was played in fantastic weather, with the main problem being the bright sunshine causing problems for players fielding high kicks. Didsbury immediately took a stranglehold of the game, showing great discipline as they retained the ball for phase after phase, only to be thwarted at the last drive, by a mixture of resolute Upper Eden defence and some interesting refereeing decisions. The breakthrough score soon came, Didsbury secured good scrummage ball and the ball was fed wide right, quickly recycled and fed back to Dylan Williams who used his experience and bulk to power over by the posts. Sean Bishop added the conversion and Didsbury led 7-0. Upper Eden's strength lay in their rolling maul, which proved a telling factor in this seasons earlier fixture in Cumbria, but the visitors were unable to get within range of the Didsbury line to cause any serious threat. Didsbury's backrow of Swan, Aidan Murphy and Mark Harrison were making a nuisance of themselves at the breakdown, and causing havoc in the Upper Eden defence with ball in hand. A drive to the line by Swan was stopped, but the ball was cleanly recycled and Tom Makin bashed his way under the posts. Bishop again added the extras and increased the lead to 14-0. Both teams had chances to score before the break, but both defences held out until halftime. Didsbury had the 14 point lead, but they were all too aware that their visitors were far from beaten. There was no more evidence of this than last season's game which saw Upper Eden score 29 unanswered second half points, eventually seeing Didsbury win by a solitary point.

Upper Eden started the second half well, and after the referee awarded them two penalties in a row they managed to find space to score out wide. The conversion narrowly missed., and Toc H would be judged on how they would respond to this setback. Didsbury immediately cancelled out Upper Eden's score, with a third try of their own. A loose pass by Upper Eden was pounced upon by hefty second row Chris Matthews who skipped past a couple of tacklers and passed the ball to Murphy who fed Bishop and then onto Sam Moore who raced in to score in the corner. Bishop's conversion just missed and the score moved on to 19-5. The visitors again struck back, with a second unconverted try to get within two scores of the lead, 19-10. But the game was put beyond doubt with Dave Hoare speeding in from a clever move off the back of a scrum, and with it secured the bonus point for the fourth try.

The game finished 29-10 and Didsbury showed glimpses of excellent play. Particularly pleasing to the coaching staff will be the ball retention, and the performance of the set piece. On a negative note debutant Sam Moore was forced to leave the field with a serious looking injury, disappointing for Sam who made an outstanding contribution in defence and attack. Next week Didsbury hit the road again, with a trip to Furness.

For some great photos by John Fryer please go to Fryerfoto