Moor travel to Wigton but return pointless.

Moor travelled to Cumbria to play a re-arranged league game against Wigton last Saturday, hoping to avenge the one point defeat in the EDF Energy Senior Vase competition earlier in the season. The original league match had been cancelled due to torrential rain in the Lake District and with similar conditions prevailing on Friday night and the Saturday afternoon forecast not much better, the Green Lane side travelled with some foreboding as to the ground conditions that awaited them. At first sight, their fears appeared to be unfounded, as the pitch looked a picture of perfection – lush, green grass without a bare patch to be seen. However, closer examination soon put paid to any such thoughts, as lurking just below the surface was a very wet and heavy ground.

Within minutes of the start, the pitch began to cut up badly and a good old-fashioned mud-bath of a game ensued, which put paid to any sort of flowing rugby that has been Moor’s hallmark this season. In contrast, the home side’s heavier pack positively revelled in the conditions in the early exchanges and constantly had Moor on the back-foot, producing phase after phase of rucks and mauls and eventually after only 6 minutes, opened the scoring with an unconverted try. This came following a scrum, 10 metres from the Moor line, when the Wigton scrum-half broke blind, fed his centre who broke through some half-hearted tackling to score in the corner.

As the half progressed, a combination of the conditions and sound defence by Moor slowed their opposition’s progress down and the former began to get the better of position and possession. From a scrum on Wigton’s 10-metre line, No. 8 Nick Smith picked up and fed scrum-half Felipe Silva on the blind-side and the latter, finding about the only firm ground on the pitch, just out-paced the cover to scramble over for a try in the corner, which fly-half Martin Shelley just failed to convert. With time running out and looking as if it would be ‘honours even’ at half-time, the home side’s backs ran the ball out of their 22 and the move ended with Moor having to scramble the ball into touch just short of their try-line. There then followed a period of sustained forward pressure on the Moor line, but this was successfully repulsed until Wigton’s fly-half Manihera produced a delicate chip through into the far corner for his winger to run on to and score.

From the kick-off, and with stoppage time now being played, the opposition forwards kept the ball alive and slowly trundled 50 metres up the pitch and eventually their centre dived in to a mass of bodies on the Moor line to score a third try, again unconverted, to make the score 15-5 at the interval for Wigton.

The second half developed into much of a stalemate, with play rarely getting into either 22. With much of the pitch now resembling a paddy field after a herd of water buffalo had been given free rein to plough and fertilise it and most of the players now resembling the famous photograph of Fran Cotton, it was a credit to the referee that he was able to identify anyone and to the players for still trying to play rugby. There was just a suggestion however, that some of the players, at least those under 30 and/or from sunnier climes, just wanted to hear the final whistle. Moor did manage to add to their score on the half-hour from a Shelley penalty, but with ominous dark clouds appearing on the horizon, the final whistle brought an end to the game with a score of 15-8 to the home side. This was only Moor’s fourth league defeat of the season, but it did enable Wigton to leap-frog them in the table. Next Saturday, Moor are away at Fleetwood, k.o. 2:15 pm.

The 2nd XV continued their unbeaten run at the top of the Miller Homes 4 East division with a 12-0 win away against Littleborough 3rds and on Sunday, the Colts XV won 14-7 against previously undefeated Trafford Metrovick, to go level on points with them at the top of the Halbro Colts Senior E division.