WIDNES 22 – 17 DIDSBURY

Toc H 1st XV found themselves on the wrong end of another close-fought encounter against Widnes to make it four defeats in a row to the ADM Premier Division leaders.

This time they went down 22-17, adding to the 38-32, 22-21 and 19-14 defeats in the previous three games against them.

Didsbury will feel as if they have the ability to beat the league’s runaway leaders, and with a number of notable players missing for this fixture, the return fixture promises to be another memorable match-up.

No one can deny, given the results, that Widnes have the edge – but these are two very evenly-matched sides.

Had it not been for some key injuries at key points in this game even this one might have been even tighter.

Second row Owen McIntosh, hooker Harry Jones and centre Luke Richmond, all of whom had been excellent in the first hour, had to be substituted with plenty of time on the clock.

As it was, and not for the first time this season, Toc left themselves too much to do against a good side.

With Ford Lane still underwater, Widnes kindly agreed to switch the game to their massive pitch, which was in lovely condition considering the weather.

The home side’s accurate, powerful and varied kicking game – at posts and out of hand – was always going to pose a challenge given the geography.

There is a lot of space to kick into at Heath Road and, in the absence of fly-half Seb Sheratte and centre Jack Akrigg, Toc turned up to a gun fight with a pea shooter.

Even so, Didsbury adapted well defensively in the early stages and found themselves with a lot of possession in the opening quarter.

The excellent Andy Alexander got the first to put Toc ahead, finishing off a decent passage of play which had seen Widnes put under a lot of pressure defensively.

The home side were clearly frustrated and soon down to 14 men following a yellow card. Frustratingly, that also coincided with Didsbury’s pace of play dropping off and they failed to make their extra man pay.

Indeed, Widnes’ well-drilled and nimble backline got them right back in the game following a neatly-executed move which spread the width of the pitch – about 250 metres – to score in the left corner.

One would have thought that offered Toc a clear indication of where the hosts’ main try-scoring threat would come from, yet that was the first of three tries that the visitors would concede from strike moves.

It was 10-10 at half time. Scrum-half Josh Vize had got Didsbury’s second try, crossing from close range after a typically abrasive and accurate sniping run.

Toc were sloth-like out of the blocks in the second half. They were also careless and lost some concentration.

Richmond had been forced off with an eye injury at the break, and not long afterwards he was joined on the sidelines by McIntosh and Jones who, as ever, were among Toc’s most influential forwards to that point.

Despite some impressive performances from the bench, losing those two proved a big dent to Didsbury’s progress and affected the balance in the front five.

To this point Toc had been very impressive at the scrum and had put Widnes under a lot of pressure there in the first half.

In fairness, they felt their dominance at the set-piece probably wasn’t rewarded as it could or should have been.

Instead, the penalties started stacking up the other way - and with Widnes’ array of kickers that is not a healthy place to be.

Their full-back slotted a standard penalty before another well-worked strike move edged the home side further ahead.

By this stage the game was opening up – just how Toc like it – but it was Widnes who were looking more dangerous.

They gained access to the Didsbury 22 again – but were then helped by some very curious refereeing to stay there.

Having been awarded a five-metre scrum after being tackled into touch and then knocking the ball on, Widnes scored again shortly afterwards to move 12 points clear.

Sure, Toc had been on the receiving end of a barrage for 20 minutes - but they had already shown they had plenty left in the tank.

Foolishly - and foolhardily – their game management didn’t come back at the same time.

Didsbury turned down a very, very easy three points when trailing 17-10 only to cough up the ball five metres from the Widnes line.

That was stupid, but Toc were still playing well and found some of their rhythm and intent from the first period.

Back-row Jonny Naish powered over from close range after a heap of pressure on the Widnes line to set up a nail-biting finish.

With two minutes on the clock, Toc had possession and pushed for the winning score.

Enter the One-Eyed Duke who found by far the best touch finder of the day…when Didsbury needed to keep the ball in play.