The swans and the ducks will still be revelling on the open expanse of water covering Ford Lane.

Swans and ducks were having a great time on the Toc H pitches at Ford Lane on Saturday morning so local rivals Heaton Moor kindly offered to host this derby, which is always one of the highlights of the season.

Sunshine and a beautiful playing surface greeted Didsbury - until five minutes before kick-off when the sun cruelly disappeared and light drizzle took control. Still, Toc were bristling with confidence following a decent away performance at LSH last week – and they started strongly again at Green Lane.

In fact, in terms of game management and tactical execution, coach Jamie Peacock said it was the best he’d seen from his side in a long time. Accurate kicking, decent decision-making, good discipline and a hustling defensive effort made life very difficult for Heaton Moor in the first period.

In fairness, the home side kept relieving the pressure pretty well through their powerful lineout drive and some decent box kicking - but the ball, and Toc’s energy, kept coming back at them with intent. Eventually, after about ten minutes, outside centre Luke Richmond powered over from close range. He’d had a clear sight of the try line a few minutes earlier but knocked on. The one "The Duke" did finish was lovely, running a regal, cute angle and taking a lovely shoulder pass off Tom Makin. Full-back Makin was soon on the scoresheet himself. He latched on to a precise and ambitious cross-field kick from scrum-half Josh Vize to dot one down in the corner. That was the crucial score for the visitors because minutes previously, Toc’s line speed had seen fly-half Neil Wilkinson charge down a kick which winger Rory Gibson capitalised on.

Toc were good value for their 24-0 lead at the break, all against a team that hadn’t done a lot wrong. Moor were stunned – their set piece was functioning well – but they found every facet of their game under pressure in the first half an hour. After that, it was a slightly different story. Makin was sin-binned eight minutes before the break. Moor had made a good progress down the left and their winger, in the clear, chipped ahead only to see his route to the ball blocked by the Toc full-back. No one could have any complaints, although predictably Makin did. Had it not been for the marauding Harry Jones who was covering it would have been a penalty try. For the remaining portion of the first half Toc were under a lot of pressure, camped in their 22. But some sound defensive decisions and huge amount of bloody mindedness managed to keep Moor out. Winning that mini-battle leading up to half time felt like a fifth try.

The second half was a slower affair all round. The hosts got into the game more, scored, and enjoyed much more of the ball. Toc’s lineout started struggling, which didn’t help, and some ropey handling errors made Toc’s attack disjointed. Didsbury just couldn’t get any momentum, largely down to Moor’s solid set piece and better ball retention.The game opened up again when some tired bodies kicked in with about ten minutes to go. Wilkinson, after another immense shift felling big old trees in midfield, got his reward for another understated and reliable performance. Shortly after Moor scored a well-deserved try he pounced on another charge down to race in under the posts.
With a few minutes to go The Duke was put through again, this time on a less regal line. With options left and right he could have gone either way and given a teammate a run in - but he decided to take the Samoan route. It was one of those moments that, had it gone wrong, he would have known about it at training. But it didn’t. It went right, and he finished off another decent personal and team performance which sets up nicely this weekend’s trip to league leaders Widnes. That game will be away.

The swans and the ducks will still be revelling on the open expanse of water covering Ford Lane.
Men of the Match: The Duke (attack) and Harry Jones (defence, simply immense)