Moor 1st XV approached this home derby with rivals Burnage as a 'must win' match in order to regain some impetus to their flagging season, but Burnage ran out deserved winners on the day following an error-strewn match which never managed to live up to the expectations of either camp.

Moor began this 'must win' derby against rivals, Burnage, with spirit and aggression, contesting the ball well between the 22s and recycling possession to gain early territorial advantage. The Burnage gain line was breached by some direct running from ball won in set play, in particular from centre Andy Lavulavu, whose defensive tackles were also immense in preliminary exchanges. Moor continued to have the better of the early exchanges in terms of both possession and territory. Moor fly half, Mark John, scuffed a difficult 40 metre penalty goal attempt into the wind, and Burnage centre Martin Birkett pushed an easier attempt past the right hand post.

20 minutes into the match, a quick ruck released John into the Burnage 22 with a 4 to 2 advantage on the blind side. The intended pass to Farrell was delayed and intercepted by Birkett who raced away seemingly to score. After 50 metres, the flagging Birkett found support in Sam Jennings who finished the break with ease. Birkett added the conversion and Burnage took a 7:0 lead. Was this to be an omen of things to come? Moor again had the best of possession and territory but looked devoid of ideas in the Burnage 22. Burnage attacked from a line out near the half way when skipper and scrum half, Jonny Scholes, dummied cleverly and sniped through a gap. His 30 metre burst drew full back, Phil Butcher, and Scholes looped a peach of a pass over the covering winger, Reynolds, to give wing James Knight a clear run to the line. Birkett again successfully converted to leave the score 0:14 at half time.

The second half followed a similar pattern - Moor dominating possession and having the best of the territory but unable to breach the Burnage defence. Moor made frequent errors in the opposition 22 and Burnage had few problems clearing their lines. Moor looked like capitalising when they kept the ball alive in contact. One passage of play saw Number 8 McGill break right from a scrum and feed scrum half Baker by popping off the floor in the tackle. Moor pressurised the Burnage defence into an offside infringement, but this was one of very few occasions where the ball was kept alive.

Burnage seemed happy to sit on the scoreline and wait for counter-attack opportunities. One break by the centre looked like resulting in a try until the magnificent Murton 'exocetted' the attacker after a determined chase back. Butcher and Godfrey combined well to foil Burnage 4 on 2 breakaways. Moor then camped in the Burnage half and continued to batter away at the line with carries in particular from McIntosh, McGill and Griffiths, the latter having an excellent all-round game in the back row.

A frenetic final 10 minutes saw Moor trying to individually muscle their way to the line. Burnage dealt easily with these attacks and began to turn over the ball by reacting and supporting more effectively. Moor vented their frustrations on the referee as they began to question every decision - this lack of discipline became a big advantage to Burnage and cost Moor many hard-fought metres needlessly. In the 22, Moor looked indecisive, passes were inaccurate and the lines of running became very predictable. Moor will also need to address their lack of pace in the near future.

A penalty move saw a front row dummy maul with decoy runners release McGill who showed good upper body strength to muscle over for a try 20 metres to the right of the posts. The conversion was missed. A Moor knock-on from the restart signalled the final whistle with Burnage registering a deserved win, 5:14, and bragging rights in the pubs and clubs.

Pete Heath (President)