Heaton Moor 3rd XV – 0 Glossop 3rd XV – 15
Saturday 22nd December
After a batch of terrible weather recently Glossop were itching to get back onto the rugby field. Coming off the back of a huge victory against North Manchester, Glossop wanted to keep their form on track but water logged and then frozen pitches made it impossible to play. So after a three week gap the 3rd team were very much up for this one and weren’t going to allow results of previous encounters against Heaton Moor effect their game plan. The few days leading up to the game didn’t look good when it came to playing conditions. A blanket of ice covered most of the area and so the majority of the players were prepared to not have another game before Christmas. Luckily the Saturday morning was although by no means a warm day wasn’t freezing and on the journey over to Heaton Moor the heavens opened and it began raining very heavily. This led to having a pitch that was incredibly unusual to play on. The pitch itself was solid, studs at times couldn’t penetrate the ground however at the same time a layer of wet sloppy mud meant it was also barely possible to get any purchase from the pitch and changing direction at pace was a nightmare. Despite this in the pre game warming up Glossop realised that regardless of the gap in playing and the cold their handling was feeling good and lineout play was strong. Heaton Moor are currently lying in a fairly similar place to Glossop in their respective league and have won eight of their twelve games and Glossop nine of their eleven. In the two previous rounds Glossop had overcome Carnforth in the first and then St. Mary’s Old Boys in the second. Although Moor were given a by in the last round they proved that they deserved to be this far in the cup early in the game. This match on paper was going to be tight and it certainly seemed that way when the game began.
Most of the first fifteen/twenty minutes of the game was played around the half way line with neither side relenting in defence but also no-one really being able to break through on either side. Second row Adam Thompson probably came closest during this period of play to breaking the Moor defensive line with big powerful runs but Moor sensibly just had more tacklers waiting for his breaks and they contained him well. The ball was heavily affected by the previously mentioned layer of mud covering the pitch and it made handling difficult, the Heaton Moor backs in particular struggling to hold onto the ball. Glossop on the other hand played a more sensible game, keeping the ball generally with the forwards and when passes were made the supporting player was close by so no long passes needed to be made. Although the teams were fairly evenly matched Glossop had been forcing more mistakes from Moor and had definitely put more pressure on the home teams try line. The break through came once again as many of the opening Glossop tries have this season with a driving maul. Almost identically to the North Manchester game, Glossop’s number eight Phil Littlewood adeptly drove off the maul and around the home teams defence to once again score this season between the posts. Jack Howarth took up kicking duty from his centre position and slotted home the conversion. Of course the game was far from over but having points on the board was a nice position to be in especially away from home in a cup came as in the result of a draw the away team goes through as Heaton Moor had found to their advantage in the first round of the cup. The rest of the first half was a battle. Heaton Moor stepped up their level of game play after Glossop scored and their kicking game put a lot of pressure on Sam Howarth at fullback and the Glossop lineout. Sam and the Glossop forwards did themselves proud however and held strong winning all but a couple of their own and also some of the oppositions throws. Whiston returning to fly half proved his ability for positional kicking with some well placed punts to touch under pressure from Moor back in his own twenty two. Despite all this pressure however Glossop weren’t going to allow points to slip passed without something special and the tackling was at times unbelievable. After a slick backline move Heaton Moor thought they had scored in the corner but a breath taking and probably tackle of the day made by winger Ben Thomasson ‘Superman’ diving to take out his opposite man saved a certain try. Thomasson making his opponents legs clatter the corner flag moments before the ball was touched down. The Heaton Moor pressure continued throughout the half and although Glossop looked good going forward at times the final killer blow just wouldn’t come. Scrummages were about even, although at times the pitch would give one team a big advantage as once a drive was on the slippery conditions made it very hard to stop, tackling wise the teams matched each other and the pace of both teams backs were similar. It did seem as if Thomasson was in for a try near the end of the first half but the mud underfoot made him doubt his ability to sidestep the Moor fullback and he was unfortunate to slip as he passed to the overlapping support players spilling it forward. The half time whistle was blown and Glossop went into the break leading seven – nil.
Rob Smith gave way to Sam Wilkinson at second row and the second half began much the way the first had ended. Glossop’s ability going forward now however did seem to show through slightly more than in the first although at times perhaps a little line envy being apparent with some passes not being made when over laps were available. Jack Howarth probably made the break of the game from centre but was once again undone by the layer of mud as his sidestep sent him clattering into the Heaton Moor’s fullback without him even making a tackle taking Jack out of the game. Jim Parker came on as his replacement despite feeling slightly under the weather and it seemed Moor either sensed this or just didn’t like the look of a clean shirt as some of the tackles made on him were huge. The Heaton Moor support could see the Glossop uncertainty from the sideline and were convinced that the home team could still win this but even their hopes were almost put to bed when Whiston converted a penalty from in front of the posts midway through the half. Moor certainly needed something now to break the Glossop defence and they had an opportunity when Whiston was sin binned for repeatedly chatting back to the ref. Glossop would not give in easily however and the defensive line held strong. The gap in playing was playing havoc on some players with cramp and muscle aches setting in towards the end of the game. When a calmed Whiston returned to the field once again his positional kicking made it seem the was little way for Heaton Moor to get on the score board. Any element of doubting a Glossop victory was finally rested however when winger Simon Thomas pounced on a chance given to him from a poor clearance kick, trusting his feet on the mud, returning with a swift impressive run from just outside the opponents twenty two and diving for a deserved try. This was pretty much the last play of the game and the tired, wet and victorious Glossop team returned to the dressing room one step closer to the cup final.
Team Sheet:
1.Swift(c) 2.Williamson 3.Tamps 4.Smith 5.Thompson 6.Marsden 7.Wilson 8.Littlewood 9.Alderdyce 10.Whiston 11.Thomasson 12.Howarth 13.Percy 14.Thomas 15.Howarth
Subs: 16.Cox 17.Wilkinson 18.Higginbottom 19.Carrick 20.Parker