And so, on to the last league game of an already successful season. Moor, already assured of 3^rd place in the league, travelled to Stockport with nothing to lose. Not strictly true, actually, as the only team to have beaten Moor home and away so far was Macclesfield, so a win would seal a creditable performance from the Moor boys. By the way, how on earth did Toc H 4ths manage to beat the Macc Lads, at Macc? Something fishy there, methinks!

Former Moor prop, Gary Kivell, won the toss and decided to take the slope and not inconsiderable wind advantage in the first half. This nearly paid off in the early skirmishes as Stockport played a territorial game and attacked the Moor line. It was always going to be the case that the wind would dictate territory. However, Moor have been under the cosh many times this season, and the defence was immense. Tom Ireland and SAS Darwin snaffled many a ball using their upper body strength, and the first-up tackles were pretty effective. Heath had his kicking boots on and cleverly kicked into the wind up the margins, forcing the home side to counter or kick themselves. This tactic didn’t pay off for the home team as they kept driving the ball deep only for it to dribble over the dead ball line resulting in Moor scrummages in midfield, thereby relieving the pressure.

One salient moment saw the ‘Exocet’ Begg cream the home left winger with a bisection of a tackle into touch when a score looked likely. Similarly, Charlie stepped up to the plate and nailed his man as the last line of defence on a couple of occasions. This was backed up by some great cover tackling from Lindsay in the centres that kept the opposition at bay.

Moor began to counter from deep, running intelligently at and around the Stockport backs making excellent yardage. The scrum was holding its own magnificently, and the platform enabled Jaz to snipe effectively up the blind side on numerous occasions. One strike against the head enabled Jaz to break blind and then gather his own deft chip to offload to the Moor hordes in support. Eventually the cover defence evaporated and Rick Lindsay cruised over on the left, eventually touching down beneath the sticks, guided in by Air Traffic Controller Heath. The conversion attempt by Jaz was successful and Moor led 7-0 against the odds.

Shortly after, Moor again ran the ball with support and recycled well, ultimately resulting in an overlap to the left. Heath shipped fast ball to Lindsay who again found Begg and the latter hit Dave Nolan with a great pass who, with the line at his mercy, somehow managed to spill the ball when a try looked nailed-on. The unlucky Irishman jogged back with a sheepish look on his face – pretty much like the one at Buxton when he ‘practiced’ scoring on the 5 metre line before eventually scoring properly. Still, it was another warning to Stockport that they couldn’t rely on the conditions – they would have to play well to beat this Moor team with its tail up.

Another good foray by Moor saw a ruck won on half-way. Heath passed to the guest prop, Alex  (ironically a Stockport Colts player) who offloaded to Tom Ireland in contact. The rest was pure Tom. Changing pace and direction at will, he seared through the cover defence, bamboozling 4 would-be tacklers and powering over for a try near the sticks having covered a good 40 yards. Jaz was off the pitch receiving treatment for a cynical trip so Lindsay attempted the conversion and sadly sliced it – not to worry, Moor were now 12-0 to the good and looking impressive. Stockport had few answers to Moor’s running, supporting game, and another offside infringement allowed Jaz to slot a penalty to stretch the lead to 15-0 as the half-time whistle blew. Stockport were not happy to end the half with a nil-points-for tally having opted for the best of the slope and wind conditions.

It was now all about composure – taking responsibility for the ball and exerting pressure. The win was within sniffing distance, but complacency is always a threat. Heath marshalled his troops to hold fast for the first 10 minutes of the second half and then to play a territorial game and wait for home errors. This tactic worked very well, as Heath’s boot kept the home side in their own half and the backing up chases from runners was superb.  Moor should have scored another couple of tries as they were now quicker to the breakdown in better numbers, but they were let down by a few basic handling errors in striking positions. Jaz missed a 40 yard penalty attempt and desperate Stockport defence kept the visitors at bay… just! Moments later, the same man slotted a 3 pointer to stretch the lead to 18-0, and that just about sealed the match.

Stockport rallied late, and deserved a converted try from some effective recycling and rucking resulting in the inside centre throwing a dummy and crossing the line. However, there were only minutes to go, and the successful conversion heralded the referee’s final whistle.

A super finish to a highly successful league campaign from the Moor lads. It’s not that often that a Moor team has emerged with a win at Stockport in recent history, so the smiles were wide and the fingers definitely smelly! Guaranteed clear 3^rd spot in the league – how’s that for a bunch of miscreants? Bloody marvellous.