Bowdon victorious

Despite playing uphill in the first half, Bowdon began well, the forwards clearly relishing the physical confrontation of their first match for several weeks. Excellent sustained recycling resulted in a few half breaks, but Bowdon were never quite able to shake off the last defender. Manchester had their fair share of possession as well, and found gaps in midfield to move deep into Bowdon territory. A defensive scrum near the Bowdon line was successfully won, but pressure from the opposition back row led to panicky handling, a sliced clearance, and a Manchester try (plus conversion).

The home team responded well, applying pressure of their own, and a spell of excellent rucking and ball retention allowed Harry Briscoe to skip round the defence (conversion missed, 5-7).

The visitors started the second half much the brighter, with sloppy defending allowing them an early score (conversion missed, 5-12). After a stern talking to Bowdon quickly woke up, a trade mark long distance strike down the left wing by Harry Briscoe leading to a try under the posts, duly converted by Tom Peel (12-12).

An injury to the unfortunate Oliver Meredith led to the introduction of debutant boy Henry Collins, and he quickly showed his attacking potential. An exchange of passes with Harry Briscoe gave him the yard of space he required, and he duly left the defence in his wake to go under the posts (conversion by Tom Peel, 19-12).

Manchester were always going to come back strongly, and so it proved, gaps in the defence again allowing them to apply pressure to the Bowdon line. This time, however, Bowdon were determined to hold out, and frenetic defending somehow kept the score unchanged for a great victory.

A further 'mini-game' allowed all to get game time, and ended one try apiece (Harry Briscoe again scoring for Bowdon).

So lots of positives for the boys, not least the confidence of knowing that they can match strong opposition with aggressive clearing out at rucks. Noteworthy performances, other than Harry Briscoe, came from the entire front row, who coped well against bigger opposite numbers, the effervescent Dan Thompson at number 8, Ben Royle who continued to show his potential when given space, and Ed Griffiths who was solid at full back.