Didsbury Living the Life of Hydey

For their final match of the season (and skipper Mike Hyde’s final game as captain), Didsbury welcomed Burnley to Ford Lane. Since losing to Toc H way back in September, and having had a poor start to the campaign, the visitors have gone on to have a strong season, taking some notable scalps along the way (including those of Heaton Moor, Trafford MV and Oldham). A win in this fixture would see them overtake Didsbury in the final league standings, so an end of term dead rubber this was most certainly not. There were some changes to Toc H’s team, with Foster, Thomas, Walker, Anstey, Seddon and Peacock all absent, which necessitated several changes, including starting the talismanic Anthony Ames in the second row alongside Phil Dodds, and bringing Daffyd Williams in at prop alongside Jon Walker. Neil Wilkinson slotted in at ten, in a re-arranged Didsbury back-line.

It was Burnley who started the stronger and, five minutes in, they proceeded to shove the Toc H eight off their own put-in in the home 22, resulting in a converted try under the posts. Stung into action, Didsbury responded with perhaps their finest concerted passage of play of the season. First, Mike Hyde touched down after a good driving maul, which was followed immediately by a try from flying winger Enita Okodiko, who latched on to a good long clearing kick and some indecision from the Burnley fullback, to go in under the sticks. The Burnley restart didn’t go ten and from the subsequent scrum on half way, number 8 Chris Craig, scrum-half Gaz Oakley and right wing Dave Hoare combined to send the latter racing down the touch-line and in at the corner. Toc weren’t finished and further good field position, following strong runs from Murphy and Harrison, resulted in Okodiko burrowing over from short-range for his second try. Veteran fly-half Neil Wilkinson’s kicking radar was fully functional and he converted three of these tries from the touchline, taking the score to 26-7, after twenty minutes.

A shell-shocked Burnley opted to then play a tighter game for the remainder of the half, keeping the ball away from Didsbury’s needle-sharp backline and they were rewarded for their efforts with a further converted try and a penalty shortly before half time, taking the score to 26-17. They then added another penalty shortly after the break and for all their good play and cutting edge in attack, Didsbury only led by six points. The second half then proceeded to take on a somewhat surreal air, with both teams landing metaphorical punch after counter-punch and the scoreboard barely stood still for a second. First, full-back Tom Makin was the beneficiary of a strong break by centre James Turner and finished smartly in the corner. This was followed by (in hindsight) one of the funniest moments of the season, when a long, aimless punt from the Burnley fly-half landed squarely on Okidiko’s head, before rolling out over the dead ball line. This resulted in a 5m scrum, which the away team turned into seven points. The circus was clearly in town and the strangeness continued several minutes later, when Burnley’s combative number eight, on his own line, decided to pass the ball to a goal-hanging Dave Hoare, who gratefully flopped over the line, taking the lead, once again, out to two scores.

Didsbury thought the game was sewn up a few minutes later, when Okodiko, atoning for his earlier error, took a ball on the blindside and running back style, proceeded to spin, bunny hop and blast his way around (and through) several would-be tackles, to go over for the try of the match, completing his hat-trick. Okodiko has had a superb sophomore year for Toc H and the try was his 15th of the campaign, just two shy of top-scorer Dave Hoare – the battle between the two wingers has been an intriguing sub-plot this season and Hoare will be pleased to have just about kept his teammate at arm’s length.

Didsbury thought they had the game won, but to their credit, Burnley, like a monster at the end of a horror film, simply refused to go quietly and kept coming back for more – they responded with two quick tries, taking the scoreline to a remarkable 43-39 and with 5 minutes to play, Didsbury were in danger of snatching defeat from the jaws of victory. However, they were able to see out the game and claim the five points. This was a terrific match, played in a good spirit and Burnley played a huge part in keeping the spectators hugely entertained - we wish them well for next season. Didsbury will feel that they could, and perhaps should, have won by more, but the bonus point win took them up to a highly credible third in the league and they can finish a minimum of fourth in a competitive North Lancashire 1 division. All in all, it’s been a very satisfactory season and will stand the team in good stead as it looks to kick on next year.

But the final word must go to Hydey, who, after six years of dedicated service as first XV skipper, finally turned in the captain’s armband on Saturday. He’s overseen perhaps Toc H’s finest ever team (the double winning side of 09/10) and kept a sometimes flagging side competitive and hungry for several years in the relentlessly challenging North Lancs/Cumbria league, which is some achievement. The match on Saturday, with its ups, downs, moments of high comedy and periods of flat out outstanding rugby was a strangely fitting tribute – it’s never dull at Toc H! Thanks for the memories, Hydey!

But before we get too emotional, he’s not hanging up his boots just yet, so if you still want to see some wonky throwing in, dodgy Irish dancing and glittery-thong wearing party boy antics, get yourself down to Ford Lane in September, when Mike will be only too happy to oblige you…