Bowdon started slowly and were caught down the blind side following a very powerful and well worked driving maul by WPSH on 6 minutes. Bow' eventually gathered some composure and began to dominate the set scrum and break down area. However on 12 minutes they lost open side, Luke Brown to injury, who was the only forward capable of getting into the opposition midfield and causing disruption. After weathering a squall or two as WPSH played through their forwards Bowdon began to pressure the home side and spent some not inconsiderable time in the opponents half. Three times Bowdon crossed the line only to have the referee rule that the attempts had been held up, as the forwards worked tirelessly to get a score. Then on 41 minutes WPSH scored again and half time came 10 – 0. Whilst at this point the scrum and line out were working well and Bowdon had had more than their fair share of ball a nil score was scant reward for their efforts.

The second half opened and the men in green and gold quickly increased the lead to 15 -0 at 7 minutes down their left wing. Poor tackling mid – field. From then it was difficult as Bowdon's bigger forwards began to tire. WPSH were always looking to move the ball through the backs when the 10 was not making half breaks which again exposed some weak tackling. Bowdon had their chances and on at least three occasions poor passing to the wing halted good opportunities. Further injuries to wing Hartley and significantly prop Danny Marshall stretched the visitors resources as they prepared to weather the coming storm. Bowdon were now struggling to retain the ball at the scrum and WPSH made the most of the extra possession and the unforced errors as they went 20 – 0 to the good. It was probably a good thing the WPSH kicker had missed his visit to spec savers during the week. To their credit Bowdon rallied with an excellent try from Paul Moseley as he burst through off Swetman’ s shoulder to score under the posts but this was swiftly responded to as the home team went further ahead 25 – 7. A further converted try and penalty had the score at 35 – 7 when Bowdon had a final rally and Swetman forced his way over in the right corner to make the final score 35 – 12.

On the day the better team won but this could have been a different story and a much closer contest if Bowdon had not been hit by the injuries to Marshall, Hartley and Brown. This plus a little more good fortune and the score would have been less flattering to the home side. Performances of note were given by Mosely and Bright whilst coach Swetman led by example. The forwards need to be fitter and the back line must find more composure when opportunities appear. The return fixture will be one not to miss.