Manchester Medics 31 – 57 Lymm Eagles

Eagles in Surgical Operation on Medics

Following their comfortable win over a depleted Altrincham Kersal last week, the Eagles were keen to continue their winning form against Manchester Medics on Saturday. The Medics play their home games at Heaton Moor RFC meaning that the Eagles will also have to return to Stockport for those fixtures as well.

Based on previous encounters, the Medics XV usually have a high proportion of very fit, agile, and speedy players aged under 25 and also capable of putting in their own stitches. There was no reason to suppose that today’s side would be any different in makeup, although sadly, we did see one of their key players limping off the pitch, not to return, due to an injury sustained during the warmup. Although Captain Olly Brown was otherwise engaged and unable to participate in the match, he still managed to assemble an excellent squad with the usual mixture of age, experience, agility, speed, power and stamina, although which individual Eagle’s players possess these talents is debatable.

With Olly Brown unavailable, David Coon took his role as hooker and Captain. He took his place in the front row with regular George “Ringo” Harrison and the returning Gareth Evans. They were backed up by the experienced and highly mobile lock forwards Ben Stroud and Jez Ure. New boy, Paul Haig, made his second start for the Eagles as Flanker, partnered with Craig “Viking” Capewell and Mike Clarke at No.8 holding it all together. Chris Fuller took up his regular post at Scrum half, with the evergreen (aka veteran) Alan Reddecliff by his side at Fly Half. The experienced (and very noisy!) Tom Baker and the always welcome, Liam “Sully” Sullivan filled the line as Centres. Youngster Leo Coleman, who put in an impressive performance last week against Alti Kersal, went back on the wing with paceman Ash Caffrey on the opposite wing. With his excellent kicking skills, safe hands and great turn of speed, Oscar Newton took up position at Full Back. This still left a  formidable bomb squad line up of replacements on the bench with Jim “The Badger” France, all-rounder Louis Hind, Marc “The Whippet” O’Connor and Cronan “The Barbarian” Creagh ready to come on at a moments notice.

The match kicked off under threatening skies and with a strong blustery wind. With the advantage of a much larger pack, Lymm soon made good ground into the Medics half as they used their trademark “Up the Jumper and Rumble” technique to grind forward. In the first few minutes it looked like the Lymm forwards were going to simply steamroller over the opposition. The Medics were clearly surprised by the ferocity of the Lymm drive but were well drilled and well-disciplined and able to immediately seize any opportunities resulting from Lymm’s unforced errors (of which there many). Despite these early jitters, within 10 minutes the Lymm pack had got within striking distance of the line and a quick ball from scrum half Chris Fuller reached the outstretched hand of Sully Sullivan who glided around the last 2 defenders to score close to the posts. Oscar Newton made swift work of the conversion (0 – 7).

Clearly stung by this early score, the Medics quickly upped the pace of the game and used their undoubted speed and quick accurate passing to keep the ball out of the reach of the grasping Lymm forwards and move it out towards the wings. A scrum from a Lymm error only 5m out, provided the Medics with a great opportunity to move the ball quickly along the line and run in an unstoppable try on 14 minutes. The well struck conversion levelled the score (7 – 7).

The score buoyed the Medics game and for the next 15 minutes, Lymm barely got their hands on the ball. They were forced into an all-out defence as the Medics used their speed out wide to run round the grasping hands of the dangerous forwards and half backs and it was only the sterling tackling of Ash Caffrey and Leo Coleman on the wings and Oscar Newton at full back that prevented several scores. Almost inevitably, Lymm were unable to resist the repeated onslaught and after 28 minutes the Medics winger made a great 40m sprint along the touchline to score in the corner. The distance and wind proved too much for the conversion (12 – 7). With almost half an hour gone and with players carrying a few knocks and bangs, Lymm used the brief break in play to rest a few of the squad and bring on some of the replacements.

Following the restart, the Lymm forwards managed to secure the ball and set off up the pitch with great close support provided by the rampaging Mike Clarke and Ben Stroud with great carries from George “Ringo” Harrison and Craig “Viking” Capewell and the swerving runs of Marc “Whippet” O’Connor. Unfortunately, the ball, spilled in a messy maul, was gratefully collected by a Medic who booted the ball over the heads of the whole Lymm team and then proceeded to win the footrace for the touchdown under the posts. The conversion brought the score to (19 – 7) after 32 minutes.

With only 8 minutes left to half time, in a classic Eagles move, the forwards secured the ball from the restart, rumbled 20m up the pitch and then released the ball to centre Tom Baker who dodged and darted towards the line, finally passing to a motoring Reddecliff who powered through the remaining defenders for a much-needed try on 35 minutes. A well struck kick by Newton added the extra points. (19 – 14).

Despite some well-deserved congratulations on narrowing the score, after the restart, an unidentified Eagle, chose to fly hack a loose ball straight into the arms of a speedy Medic who needed no further invitation to sprint, untouched, straight through the Lymm lines and score under the posts. The conversion brought the score to (26 – 14) after 37 minutes.

With 3 alternating scores in 5 minutes and only 3 minutes left until half time on this scribe’s clock, play became increasingly scrappy and fractious with both sides shouting instructions at all their players. No one really seemed to know what was happening but fortunately for the Eagles, from within all this confusion, the ball managed to find its way into the hands of Sully Sullivan who used his pace to sprint almost half the pitch and score near the corner. The conversion by Newton glanced off the wrong side of the posts. (26 – 19)

Half Time: Manchester Medics 26 – 19 Lymm Eagles

Captain David Coon used the interval to rest some of the players and bring on some of the remaining replacements including Jim France and young Louis Hind. David emphasised the need to focus on playing to the Eagles strengths in the forwards and limit the Medics opportunities for long distance sprints. Also the number of penalties being conceded by the Eagles, particularly for high tackles (Mike Clarke please note!!!) was increasing and would need attention if players wanted to stay on the field.

Right from the kick off, the whole team seemed to take on a new life. The ball was quickly secured by the charging front row and a slick pass straight into the hands of rampaging centre Tom Baker allowed him to crash his way through the stunned opposition and sprint the last 20m to score a great individual try under the posts with less than 1 minute on the clock. Oscar Newton added another 2 points to level the score (26 – 26).

There then followed a 30-minute passage of play which, from the perspective of an aging, old school, former rugby playing, line judging, flag waving, report writing, spectator was both exciting and entertaining to watch. Every one of the 8 Eagles forwards on the pitch at any time, worked as an almost seamless unit gathering and recycling the ball, maintaining possession, and recovering the ball from the rucks and mauls. The very physical nature of the forward play resulted in some nasty knocks and bangs. The welcome provision of Becky as a dedicated Physio for the Eagles ensured that the players received prompt attention both on and off the field. The availability and rotation of replacement forwards in the shape of Cronan “The Barbarian” Creagh, Jim France and Marc O’Connor enabled the Eagles to maintain almost constant pressure on the Medics and keep them on the back foot. The sense of enthusiasm and enjoyment in the whole team was palpable and produced some great individual moments. Stalwart Eagles prop David Coon, recognised for his rock-solid abilities in the front row, found himself having to play in all three positions, tight head, hooker and loose head during the course of the match in order to accommodate the preferences of the other front row replacements. At one stage, David picked up the ball which had popped out of the back of a ruck and proceeded to make a great solo leading charge down the pitch fending off tackles, accompanied by the voice of Tom Baker shouting “Come back, you’re a Prop. You’re not supposed to do that.”

The backs made the most of the ball fed to them by Chris Fuller who scampered around behind the pack like man possessed, ducking and diving to keep out of trouble. Around 10 minutes in, and having got to within 10m of the line, big No 8 Mike Clarke decided he had had enough of this passing malarky and decided to grab the ball in his vice like grip and power his way, single handedly over the line for a great individual score. The conversion from Oscar Newton added to his personal tally (26-33).

Only 9 minutes later, Oscar fielded a long kick from the Medics deep in his own half and took the ball on a swerving run to put his teammates onside and then launched the ball back towards the opposition line. While the Medics watched the ball sail over their heads, speedy winger Louis Hind, won the chase to catch the bouncing ball and dived gracefully over to score close to the corner. The distance and gusty wind denied the conversion attempt (26 – 40).

With the Medics heads going and the Eagles with their tails up, it was only another 5 minutes before fly half Alan Reddecliff interplaying with centres Tom Baker and “Sully” Sullivan, squeezed through a gap in the Medics defence to dive over close enough to the posts to make the conversion by Newton easier (26 – 47). It took only another 2 minutes before new Eagle, flanker Paul Haig, in only his second game for the Eagles, joined the back line out wide and took the ball over for a nice individual but unconverted try in the corner (26-52).

Cue lots of back slapping and high fiving amongst the Eagles in the lineup for the restart. Unfortunately, a cheeky grubber from the Medics caught the Eagles unaware and the opposition managed to show that they still had pace aplenty as they raced through the Lymm lines to boot the ball up the pitch and over the tryline. They footrace and dives for the touchdown in the corner were fingertip close and both the referee and Eagle touch judge were unsighted and unable to make the call. As the closest Eagle player to the action, Captain Dave Coon confirmed the Medics touchdown as  a try, to give them their first points in the second half (31-52) on 33 minutes.

By now both teams were pretty well running on empty and looking forward to the final whistle, a shower, and a pint but not necessarily in that order. However with only around a minute left, there was still time for Tom Baker to secure the ball in loose play and make one of his usual jinking and dodging runs to go in under the posts for a well-earned score. To save time he also successfully took the conversion.

The referee’s whistle brought an end to the game shortly afterwards.

Full Time: Manchester Medics 31 – 57 Lymm Eagles

An excellent result for the Eagles and great start to their season. A very competitive game but played by two teams with distinctly different strengths and abilities. The youthful Medics were very dangerous and skilful in open play, and their backs undoubtedly had the edge overall in terms of speed and agility. However, the Eagles definitely won the contest for grunt and grit in the forwards which together with a mixture of experience and youthful ability in the backs produced a formidable and winning combination.

It was also refreshing to receive a few words of thanks from the referee after the game for the good spirit and sense of camaraderie in which the game had been played. Well done, Lads.

As an unbiased observer and veteran of many Eagles games, I have found it incredibly difficult to find an individual to nominate as Man of the Match. It has been rare event for me to watch a game where everyone worked so well as a team and put in so much effort. As my favourite Canadian rock band, Sum 41, once said “All Killers – No Fillers! I really can’t decide. My selection for MOM this week therefore is, Oliver Brown, simply because he wasn’t there and he can’t moan at me.

Unfortunately, in the melee of scoring his well-earned try, it transpired that young Louis Hind had fractured one of his ribs in two places and will be out of action for a few weeks. Thanks for your great efforts, Louis, and best wishes for a speedy recovery.

Next week the Eagles face Winnington Park at home KO 3.00pm. All welcome.

Tries: Liam Sullivan (10, 39), Alan Reddecliff  (35, 64), Tom Baker (41, 77),  Mike Clarke (50),              Louis Hind (59), Paul Haig (66)
Conversions: Oscar Newton ( 10, 35, 41, 50, 64), Tom Baker (77)

Team: 1) Gareth Evans   2) David Coon (C)  3) George Harrison  4) Jez Ure 5) Ben Stroud  6)  Paul Haig   7) Craig Capewell 8) Mike Clarke  9) Chris Fuller 10) Alan Reddecliff  11) Leo Coleman  12) Tom Baker  13) Liam Sullivan, 14) Ash Caffrey 12) Oscar Newton REP  16) Jim France  17) Louis Hind  18) Marc O’Connor  20) Cronan Creagh

Match Report: Pete & David Coon