This weekend saw second from top (Wirral) play second from bottom (Northwich) of the Colts A league and this game demonstrated just how tight this league is.
Northwich were determined to bounce back from the below par performance of last week at Ormskirk and with league games running out, they were also determined to take the scalp of one of the league leaders.
From the kick off, Northwich made their intentions clear and flew after their kick to put their visitors under immediate pressure. The early exchanges were fierce as Northwich tried to set the tone for their day. However, it was the visitors that opened the scoring after being awarded a long range penalty which they duly converted.
This just seemed to fire Northwich up more and they attacked their restart kick with passion. Wirral were knocked back in tackle after tackle and eventually a break up the right wing from prop Bridle looked like it was going to lead to a score, however Wirral halted the progress in an illegally and the crowd bayed for a penalty try, the ref only saw fit to give the Blacks a penalty close to the posts, which Parkinson made sure of to level the scores.
Northwich continued to build the pressure and strong work in the forwards saw them recover the kick off and drive back into Wirral’s half. Constant pressure lead to a line out on Wirral’s 22 and the Blacks gathered it in and set up a good driving maul. Wirral failed to stop the momentum and from just over 5 meters out Crozier found a gap and sprinted for the line to score the opening try. Although the conversion was wide out, Parkinson had no trouble slotting the kick. 10 - 3
Wirral were stung into action and threw everything at Northwich, who, despite having been warned not to by coach Clarke, helped Wirral’s cause by giving away a series of silly penalties. Wirral tried to kick one but the shot stayed wide. However the stream of penalties allowed the visitors to pile on the pressure and the Blacks defence had to hold out for a good ten minutes against a concerted attack from as close as 5 meters out.. Eventually though the defence won the day and the ball was worked clear and the home supporters breathed a sigh of relief.
Northwich again mounted strong pressure on the Wirral line yet their indiscipline cost them another good position as comments were taken as indecent at a scrum and a penalty given to the visitors to clear their lines. Half time soon followed and the lads gathered around the coach for further instruction. No changes were made to the line up, however the lads were warned to stay focused.
From the restart though Northwich demonstrated that they were in no mood to throw away this lead as Cotterill gathered the kickoff and ran back hard at the defence, supported by Bridle. It was now the Blacks turn to lay siege to the school end of the pitch and before long they were rewarded with a penalty in kickable position and Parkinson slotted another 13 – 3.
This gave a little more breathing space and settled any remaining nerves. Time and again the driving maul was used to great effect as Northwich looked to close out the game. A box kick from Houghton found the centre of the visitors 22 and Redfern chased well, but Wirral dealt with the threat and the ball was eventually worked out towards their 10 meter line. An attempted clearing kick was charged down by Williams though and the ball popped up for the supporting Houghton who scooped it up and accelerated down the wing. For a moment it looked like the defence would get him, but a despairing tap tackle missed the mark and he sprinted clear. The touchdown was made under the posts to give Parkinson his easiest points of the day. 20 -10.
Northwich now had 8 mins to defend this lead and although Wirral did cross the line, the cover tackle dislodged the ball and resulted in a 22 drop out. The Blacks wound down the clock and the lads were delighted and relieved to hear the final whistle.
Finally, after a long season of trying, they had finally taken a win from one of the top placed clubs and proved to all that there is real potential in this team.
Next week sees an immediate re-match as Northwich travel to Wirral in the quarter final of the Cheshire Cup. Should be an interesting game!
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