Eccles Roosters 22 – 38 Leigh Miners Rangers A
Leigh Miners Rangers made the short trip to Eccles determined to keep their unbeaten record intact. A much changed side due to holidays, suspension and 1st team duty they came up against a strong Eccles forward pack.
Eccles had most of the possession in the early changes and deserved their 4-0 lead after 12 minutes. Miners were finding it hard to complete their sets and handed possession over too many times in their own half. Eventually after 25 minutes they got their first try when Tom Farrimond fed Darryl Flannery who crashed over near the uprights. Scott Travis converting.
Miners failed to collect the resulting kick off and Eccles were rewarded when their second row walked through a static Leigh Defence 10-6. Eccles with their tails up kept pounding the Miners defensive line and again went over for a try on 35 minutes 16-6. Leigh Miners found themselves in a position they had not been in for a while and needed a quick response to keep them in the game. This response came in the form of substitute Jimmy Davies when he latched onto a defence splitting pass off Scott Travis to break on 50 metres before rounding three players to score a fine try under the sticks 16-10.
As the first half came to a close there was time for one more try from Leigh Miners when a great run and then offload by Danny Trimble to wing man David Heyes who went round his opposite number and managed to score near the sticks for Scott Travis to convert.
Half Time 16-16.
During half time Leigh Miners knew they had to fix a few things and responded perfectly when a deft kick from scrum half Aarron Reeve was picked out of the air by centre Darryl Flannery on 41 minutes to give Leigh Miners the lead for the very first time in the game 16-20. Eccles came back fighting but the Miners forwards Kev Howells and Dave Rowlands worked tirelessly to keep them at bay with heroic efforts. This effort allowed Miners the chance to get their hands on the ball and when Sean Pendlebury linked with Scott Travis he stepped through the Eccles defence and raced 90 mentres for the try of the game 16-26.
The Leigh side looked to be finally clicking together but a clear obstruction ignored by the referee allowed Eccles to walk through for a score on 56 minutes 22-26. Once again it was left to Sean Pendlebury to find away through the resolute Eccles defence on his own 40 metre line who then fed the ever supporting Scott Travis who finished off under the sticks 22-32. The Miners seemed to have shored up their defences as Micheal Charles, Danny Trimble and Kevin Howells worked hard. They finished the game well when a move from the scrum saw winger David Heyes get his second try converted by Scott Travis.
This was a tough encounter for the reshuffled Miners side against a spirited Eccles side. It was testament to their great team ethic as they showed great composure and fight to get themselves back into the game and then making the necessary line defence efforts to keep them in front. Two trys disallowed for forward passes by the same touch judge as the referee went to award the tries added to their challenge.
Next week see them play away again against Ince Rose Bridge.
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