Welshy's Wilmslow Wobble

The scoreline ultimately hid the facts in what was a closely fought affair a few weeks ago in Wilmslow.

Bedians 2’s were in a buoyant mood as they gathered at Millgate Lane ahead of this short trip into Cheshire. The vivaciousness felt towards this fixture, however, was certainly not derived from any expectation of an easy game against a reputable Wilmslow side who had enjoyed a successful league campaign last season. Instead, spirits were enthused in anticipation of what is fast being recognised as the ‘finest post match food on the circuit’ and speculation prevailed around the possible materialisation of a crate of cold lagers in the away changing room after the game. Unfortunately, pre match preparations were hampered by late withdrawals from the squad; the impact being most notably felt in the front row where Steve Cook had to debut at prop with Mike Quinn stepping in at hooker. Any negativity that this created though was soon forgotten as the congregated Bedians caught their first sight of Campbell; a complete barrel of a Kiwi who despite a career in the backs slotted in naturally at Number 8 for the day.

Bedians started the game with little territory but looked solid in the opening exchanges. Unfortunately, this proved short lived as a missed tackle allowed Wilmslow in for their first try of the game after about 10 minutes. Despite this, Bedians showed good character and began to dominate proceedings. They enjoyed superior territory and possession over the next 20 minutes and Wilmslow began to concede penalties under the pressure. Bedians cleverly opted to get points on the board when they had the opportunity to do so, and stand-off Swede showed his form with boot as he knocked two fine penalties over with aplomb. Wilmslow then regained the lead later in the half after Bedians conceded a penalty for ‘hands in the ruck’, only to be pegged back again before half time with a fantastic long range Swede penalty. Bedians went in deserved 9-8 leaders at the break. Despite having considerable problems to overcome in the scrum, Bedians had dominated loose forward play, showing good commitment in the breakdown while also regaining their solidarity in defence. Wilmslow had not helped themselves by giving away a number of needless penalties, including being penalised on several occasions for dissent; an offence that the referee appeared to treat with a particularly ominous firmness, Indeed a Wilmslow player recieving 10 minutes for nothing more then a little slap to the head of Pat Willis.

Wilmslow began the 2nd half well but for the first 20 minutes or so, the Bedes defence remained on top. A chance to open a small gap then came Bedians’ way as Swede opted to take on a long range penalty, only to see it drop agonisingly short of the posts.

Bedians then began to lose their momentum somewhat; a number of poor decisions were made, including a number of badly conceived quick penalties in our own half and ill-fated attempts to pick the ball out of rucks when simply securing it would have been more provident. This all gave Wilmslow the platform they needed and the Cheshire side were able to capitalise by scoring a second try to make the score 15-9. At this point, Bedians were still very much in the game and a Bedians score looked imminent.

However, the major turning point occurred moments later when veteran forward Jock Rowley sustained a knee injury which was to end his game. A reshuffle ensued, which saw the highly influential Campbell volunteering to move from his newly found number 8 position and into an even newer position at loose head. With the already piecemeal front row losing Jack’s valuable experience the scrum became a lost cause, and fearing for the safety of his fellow Bedians Captain Steve Cook was in the process of discussing with the referee whether or not the scrums be made uncontested. Andrew ‘Welshy’ Welsh, somewhat foolishly, decided to reiterate this point to the referee “Haweey pet, if tha scrums cam crashin reet doon it’ll be on wor heed like!” This seemed to not be to the ref’s liking with Welshy receiving his martyrdom in the form of a yellow card.
Ironically, the dismissal of another large experienced forward meant the scrums had to be made uncontested, but despite his vindication, Welshy looked noticeably disappointed from the side-line. Making the most of their extra man advantage, Wilmslow scored their final try after one was bravely held up over the line. This was what finally contributed to the cruel-looking scoreline. Bedians’ disappointment was compounded when speculation regarding the post-match changing room beers failed to be substantiated and the new Wilmslow showers, which Jay seemed so so happy about before the match, appeared to be experiencing teething problems with the water pressure that of a 90 year old with prostate problems. Despite this, there were many positives to be taken from the afternoon. Bedians showed a spirited performance against an accomplished Wilmslow side who will surely be in contention for promotion. There were also notable individual performances, particularly from Campbell and Gareth ‘Gasman’ Webber. Finally, the food lived up to its top billing; a lovely cheesy pasta dish with small pieces of pepperoni, more food ratings to follow during the season