A 2017 Rugby Feast at Tarleton
Will Parker putting in one of the many tackles needed on the day
©Jeff Gordon
Tarleton Second XV faced Eccles 2nd XV at Carr Lane on Saturday and with Eccles's First XV match being cancelled they had placed a sprinkling of their players in the squad.
This meant that yet again Tarleton had to defend for long periods of the game and lived on scraps of possession against the charging Eccles forwards.
As a spectacle it was a poor match to watch as the bulk of the play consisted of Tarleton tackling in midfield and a large amount of penalties being awarded against each side. As the action took place in midfield it was a long time before one of these penalties was though kickable and it was Eccles who tried to take the lead, although the distance was good the ball sailed past the left hand upright and the chance had gone.
It was from more good defence by Tarleton that resulted in Eccles dropping the ball in Tarletons’ 22 and it was fly hacked through, Sam Tyrer came charging through and hacked it on again and had the legs of the Eccles defenders. When the ball was about a yard from the Eccles line it just needed the lightest of touches to put it over the line but the ball decided to spin on its access and Sam missed it completely and the Eccles winger kicked it dead.
From the 5mtr scrum Tarleton exerted some good pack pressure and the ball was thrown across the back line and found its way to the on-rushing Tom Wignall who crashed over to give Tarleton a 5-0 lead with 10 minutes to go.
Eccles kept on coming and Tarleton kept on tackling and another bit of good pressure on the Eccles ball carrier saw the ball back in Tarletons’ hands and a quick pass out wide saw the Tarleton winger outpace the Eccles defenders to score in the corner. George Cook added the conversion and Tarleton had won the match 12-0.
This puts them into 3rd place in the league with all to play for.
The First XV had another good win on the road at 24-12 at Trafford Metrovic and this sees them back into 3rd. place in their league too.
Next Saturday, weather permitting both the 2nds and 3rds are at home in re-arranged matches – we don’t do mulled wine but it would be worth a visit for an afternoon’s entertainment. Both matches are scheduled to kick off at 2.15pm.
