A battle in the gloom at Green Lane saw the Moor 1st XV scrape out a much needed victory playing hosts to Netherhall. The visitors were 5th bottom with Moor being propped up only by Workington before the match began, so it was an ideal opportunity to close the gap and to begin to climb out of the relegation zone.

Persistent rain and a soft surface meant that open play would be a rarity, while forward possession would be a priority. From the start, the home pack were determined to carry on their good form of recent weeks. Early pressure was enforced at the first few scrummages as Moor drove the larger Netherhall pack backwards at a rate of knots. This pressure resulted in a penalty which was quickly taken by scrum-half Paul Stonehouse. He worked a narrow blind side to fix the defence, and fast passing then released centre Phil Butcher who hit the ball at pace from depth to race away up the line for a near 50m try in the corner.  The difficult conversion attempt was missed.

The 5 point lead was short-lived as Netherhall regained possession from their own re-start to set up a series of driven rucks. The ball was moved wide just outside the home 22 and a missed tackle in the centre allowed Netherhall to create a 2 on 1. A fine offload enabled the try and the scores were levelled – the conversion being missed.

With the home pack continuing to dominate, their good work was often undone by silly penalties which yet again helped to keep the visitors in the game. This proved to be the case after 25 minutes when the Netherhall fly-half succeeded with one of a series of penalty attempts to give the visitors an 8-5 lead. Moor fly-half, Mark John responded in kind on the half hour to bring Moor level once again.

With half-time approaching, Moor kicked for touch from a penalty to take a lineout deep in the Netherhall 22. The catch by skipper, McIntosh was driven forcefully and prop, Dave Anderson scored from the maul, restoring Moor’s lead to 13-8.

At the start of the second half Moor quickly worked their way deep into Netherhall territory only to be forced back almost the length of the field by successive penalties. This pattern was to be repeated throughout the half and led to a series of penalty attempts by the visitors – some coming very close (which might have been successful on days where the conditions were more conducive to kicking!), but only one being converted for a 13-11 scoreline.

Moor held on to the end despite confusion over the scoreline which saw them trying to run the ball from their own 22 when a clearing kick would have been the right option. However, Moor deserved the win for their hard graft and hopefully this will provide a platform from which they can begin to climb the league ladder. A valuable 2 points claimed in the gloom.

Mike McDermott