Didsbury 68 - 0 Tarleton

Didsbury Toc H took to the field after an enforced six week break due to the weather, and welcomed Tarleton to Ford Lane. Didsbury had inflicted a heavy defeat on the visitors in the reverse fixture earlier in the season, but the long break could have upset the momentum Toc H was gathering before Christmas.

The Didsbury line up had a familiar look, but they were without regulars Phil Cooper, Euan Wilder and James Eames. Tarleton received the kick off and returned a kick to midfield, where Didsbury knocked on giving the visitors an early scrum. The home captain, Mike Hyde, took the ball against the head and the ball was fed wide to Pete Davies who raced in to score his 24th try of the season. Davies has been a constant thorn in the sides of teams who have met Didsbury this season, but from fullback he also creates a lot of chances for other players around him. 24 tries at this stage of the season his a fine haul, but winger Dave Hoare is now hot on his heels scoring 4 tries on Saturday to take his total to 23. Hopefully both players will continue to terrorise opposition defences and go close to breaking the club’s all time try scoring record, which is held by Dylan Williams with 40 tries.

Didsbury’s twelve tries were well shared round the team with five tries coming from the pack and seven from the backline. The scorers were: Hyde, Shaun Walker (2), Dave Foster, Andre Swan, Sean Bishop, Dylan Williams, Hoare (4) and Davies.

All the squad played well, if not a little bit rusty after the long layoff. Notable contributions, apart from Hoare and Davies, were Shaun Walker’s brace of tries and Andre Swan’s long awaited first try for the club.

Didsbury stay top of the league, but De La Salle in second place are on the same number of points and have a game in hand over Toc H. The two sides face each other in a fortnight to decide who will pull clear in the race for automatic promotion.

Next week Didsbury visit, Warrington based, Birchfield.