2nd XV
Matches
Sat 13 Sep 2014  ·  Freshlet Division 4 South
Marple 2
42
19
Didsbury Old Bedians RUFC
2nd XV
Marple Away: A game of two halves

Marple Away: A game of two halves

James Hennigan18 Sep 2014 - 15:58
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By James Hennigan

Saturday morning, the sun was shining and the weather was sweet yeh as Bob used to say. Whether Bedians were going to move their dancing feet was the question Skipper James Hennigan pondered as he made the short drive up Millgate Lane.

An enthusiastic and punctual squad were waiting soaking up the rays in one of Didsbury’s favourite car parks/late night venue.

Arriving at new league boys Marple Bedians were shown to their changing ‘room’. Much to their dismay they found themselves in close quarters with long time rivals and all round enemies Toc H, the smaller/less successful/less fun Didsbury rugby club. Putting on a brave face the lads held their breath and were out onto the pitch in record time.

Mel Gibson fanatic and passionate Scotsman Steve McKendrick led the warm up with rigour and early signs were showing that Bedians were looking sharp.

The game kicked off with some strong tackling and running from both sides, the breakdown was particularly scrappy with both teams keen to gain an advantage and draw first blood.
All round nice guy and frequently well-mannered James Kington broke most modern day records and was given a final warning by the referee for infringement at the breakdown only 4 minutes into the game.

After a great deal of tussling the first blood was drawn and it was Marple claret seeping out onto the green grass. Returning back row Jamie Simmons (fresh from dump tackling team mates in Welsh night clubs) burst through 5 Marple tackles to offload to Hennigan who had an easy job of catching the flailing full back and 8 on their weaker side and flopped over for the first try of the afternoon.
The conversion was expertly converted by Alex Rakowski Bedians flair man and 10 for the day.

The try fired Marple up who continued to barrage the Bedians defence with strong running from their strong second rows and 8. After a long stale mate in the Bedians 22, Marple finally broke through and crashed over into the corner to make the game 7-5 with the try unable to be converted.

New recruit Joe Porter making his debut at full back had been combining well with the centre combo of Eugene Henry & Ben Cooke from the off. Receiving the offload from Cooke, Porter took on the Marple back line in their 22. With the Marple Wing and Full back combining to pull Porter out of play the Bedians full-back rode the tackles and managed to cross the line moonwalk style placing the ball down in the corner over the back of his head mid tackle.
However, dreams were shattered when the referee disallowed the try for not placing the ball down with enough intent. Tears were shed.

Just two minutes later in what was a ridiculous choice given the ball bobbled out to a Bedian flanker on his 22, the flanker who shall remain nameless thought it was a cracking idea to punt it upfield Dan Carter style. And Dan Carter style it was, narrowly avoiding low flying planes it spun through the air dropping perfectly and bobbled out on Marple's 5m. The resulting line out was snaffled by Bedians allowing the bedes to turn the screw.
More Bedians pressure saw Ben Cooke take an inside ball cutting a line so fine he sliced past two Marple players finer than Jamie Oliver chops an onion beating a third man he scored under the posts. Another inspired boot swing from Rakowski saw the match go into half time 14-5.

Bedians kicked off the second half and we can only conclude Toc H must have spiked the water bottles, those pesky buggers.

The boys in blue spent the next 30 mins in a daze letting in 5 tries, the first of which was scored off the first ball of the second half. Collective amnesia caused by the poisoning means that nobody can recall those 30 mins.
Then something clicked, we all thought it was Anthony "Catman" Hargreaves' arm as he lay screaming on the ground. Only 90 seconds later the loose head bulldozed through to rip the ball out of the grasp of the Marple 6. His arm was feeling better and he was just joshing with us, naughty Catty.

The last seven minutes saw the Didsbury lads play the kind of rugby they are famous for. Strong running from the forwards particularly Tom Ash, Marcus Frew & new boy Jordie Gore saw holes punched through the Marple defence with scrum half Kington calling the shots he subsequently shipped the ball out wide to the backs. Finally, Bedians got the try they craved more than Scouse girls crave fake tan. Debutant Joe Porter (not to be confused with Joe Powell or indeed Alex Porter) who was cruelly denied a try in the first half made sure he demonstrated a great deal of intent pounding the ball over the try line the corner.

Special mentions also go to Gaz Riley making his debut with strong running on the wing and to Bedian stalwarts Pete Harding and Pat Doherty sharing out of position cameos with Ryan Donald on the wing.

A couple of lessons can be learnt from the result, 1. Never share a changing room with Toc H under any circumstances.
2. If you switch off you concede tries.

Well done to new league entrants Marple who showed clinical finishing and concentration is what makes the difference between winning and losing. Best of luck for the season.

Match details

Match date

Sat 13 Sep 2014

Kickoff

15:00

Meet time

01:00

Competition

Freshlet Division 4 South
Team overview
Further reading

Team Sponsors

Club Sponsor - identityFS
Club Sponsor - Manchester Self Storage