2s back to winning form

Toc H 2s got back to winning ways on Saturday with a scrappy win away at Anselmians 2s. After last weekend’s disappointing loss at Wilmslow it was important for the 2s to bounce back here.

Toc started well and put some nice passages of play together with centres Jack Powell and Fenton Martinez to the fore. Despite the early pressure Toc failed to register on the scoreboard and allowed the home side settle into the game. Anselmians duly obliged and somewhat against the run of play scored the game’s first try (unconverted).

The rest of the first half was stop-start stuff with conditions causing plenty of unforced errors. To Toc’s credit they finished the half strongly with tries through Powell and Conor Crowe, the latter following a superb break by Ben Manley from somewhere in the Anselmians half. 5-12 Toc at the break.
The second half played out much like the first. Toc’s propensity to gift the opposition territory and possession thanks to coughing up needless penalties reared its ugly head again. If we want to build on what’s been a great start to the season this part of the game will have to improve dramatically.

Anselmians pulled to within two points of Toc by scoring a fortuitous try following a catalogue of errors by Didsbury’s backs. A harmless kick through was spilled no less than five times allowing Anselmians to hack the ball upfield each time. The grounding of the ball looked suspicious but the score was given.

Toc responded immediately with a try of their own which owed much to the running of Jack and Stu Campbell. A wayward kick from Anselmians was fielded by Jack in his 22’ and after beating a couple of men linked up with Stu who made some great ground of his own. With the tryline beckoning Stu got caught from behind but managed to get his pass away to Toc’s 15 who was up in support. Paolo kicked the extras leaving it 10-19 with a few minutes left.

From the kickoff Toc regained possession and were winding down the clock until a turnover gifted Anselmians the ball wide on left. They worked it to their left winger who looked like he was tackled into touch however a try was awarded with the last play of the game to leave it Anselmians 15 – 19 DTH.

This was an important win for the 2s keeping them within touching distance of Wilmslow at the top of the table. The lineout, scrum and driving maul were again impressive so credit to the pack for their great work. A special shout out to James Turvil and Alec Dewell who only came into the side a few hours before kickoff and gave good accounts of themselves.

Next up Northwich 2s, venue TBD

Team: 15. Conor Crowe, 14. James Turvil, 13. Jack Powell, 12. Fenton Martinez, 11. Stu Campbell, 10. Will Atherton, 9. Paolo Parisi, 8. Ben Manley, 7. Mike Preiss, 6. Sam Ellwood, 5. Shaun Stephens, 4. Big Pat, 3. Chris the South African, 2. Dan Pinder, 1. Azz Singh
Subs: 16. Alec Dewell, 17. Rory Andrews