Fantastic first half sets Wigton up for the win

A memorable day at Wigton Rugby Club started with a reunion of the team and club officials from the victory over Otley in the 5th round of the Pilkington Cup twenty years ago.

A special lunch was introduced by Club Chairman Greg Morton who was pleased to welcome all the guests and was happy to report that after twenty years he had got over not being in the squad for the Otley game. The Club Captain of 1996, Mike Armstrong, then gave a short speech. He proposed a toast to absent friends as we took a few moments to recall some players and club members from twenty years ago who are no longer with us, among them Andrew Cullen, Russell Long, Alan Thompson, Alan Robson, Dougie Wilson, Alan Fell, Malcolm Hutton and Dorothy Wood, to name but a few. He reflected that twenty years on, we are able to look back with a balanced view. He broke the team of those days down into three groups: the older players who were the foundation of the club, the up and coming youngsters who had progressed through youth teams and the new boys who had recently joined, or rejoined, the playing ranks. He also paid tribute to the coaching staff of Raymond Graham and Alan Brenton, whose work preseason on fitness was vital to later success.

In looking back, Mike said it could be appreciated what a great squad that had been, several of whom had played a role in Cumbria's County Championship win at Twickenham at the end of that season. A terrific season to recall for both Wigton and Cumbria!

Mike went on to point out that comparisons would inevitably be drawn between the team of 1996 and the team of today. Taking into consideration the way the game has changed with differing laws and fitness levels, he thought he would still take the 1996 team over the current squad, although he did sound a note of caution by pointing out that Trevor is pushing 60 these days.

Back in the present, Wigton welcome De La Salle today, a team with aspirations for promotion. No doubt inspired by the presence of the legends of yesteryear, the current Wigton team responded with their best half of rugby of the season so far, a terrific first forty minutes virtually wrapping up a bonus point win by half time.

In the opening minutes, Wigton were soon on the attack with a line out in the visitors' 22. A catch and drive made good progress and a series of pick and goes by the pack edged Wigton closer to the try line. When the ball was released to the back line, skipper and flyhalf David Hanabury threw a dummy to cross close to the posts. Full back Gregg Smith converted for a 7-0 lead.

Wigton were soon on the attack with another lineout in the Della 22. This time the forwards kept the ball and prop Kevin Robinson was driven over for a second, unconverted try. 12-0.

Wigton were now really hitting top form. Their third try came when the Wigton pack took a scrum ball against the head. The ball was moved right and scrum half Fergus Ledingham put in a testing grubber which was regathered by Hanabury. He made good ground and drew the last defender, passing inside to flanker Andy Brown who crossed unopposed. Smith's conversion gave the Greens a 19-0 lead.

De La Salle finally managed to get some ball and a couple of penalties gave them a line out twenty yards out. They showed good organisation and executed an excellent catch and drive which propelled No 8 Paul Berry over the line for a try. The conversion cut the lead to 19-7.

However, the rest of the half was pretty much one way traffic as Wigton continued with their purple patch. In fact it could be argued that if anything, Della,were lucky the half time margin was not wider.

A handling error gave Della a scrum in midfield but good pressing defence by Wigton meant they lost ground conceding a lineout to a rampant home team. Good handling gave winger Ryan Clark a run for the line. He was tackled short but was penalised for a double movement. Shortly afterwards centre Richard Moffatt made a penetrating break. He passed to Hanabury in support, but the skipper lost the ball as he tried to wriggle through the last tackle on the line. From the resulting scrum Della made a poor clearance which Moffatt gratefully fielded just outside the 22. He launched Wigton on the attack again. This time the pack were able to fashion a maul a few yards out and as they moved towards the whitewash No 8 Stuart Creighton crashed over for a bonus point fourth try. That made the score 24-7 and Wigton weren't finished yet.

Hanabury made another terrific break which looked as though it must produce another score, but a supporting player was penalised for side entry at the ruck. Any respite for the visitors was temporary. Another penalty enabled Wigton to set up a lineout on the five metre line. A catch and drive was held up over the line giving Wigton a scrum five. First the forwards took the ball on and then it was moved wide with a beautifully timed Hanabury pass putting Smith outside the defender for a try. This gave Wigton a 29-7 halftime lead.

It was a halftime whistle which Wigton didn't need as they were playing their best rugby of the season. Della, by their own admission had been poor. The second half was something of an anticlimax. Della certainly upped their defensive game whilst Wigton struggled to find the form of the first half. The action from both sides was scrappy and lacking in continuity. For De La Salle strapping winger Alexander Dixon provided their most threatening moments. For Wigton, inside centre Matt Corrigan and subsequently, his replacement Brad Bouch, consistently got over the gain line.

Wigton extended their score to 35-7 with two penalties from Smith. The referee grew dissatisfied with the discipline of both sides and showed three yellow cards in the half, two for the visitors and one for Wigton. The only try came from a back move gone wrong. Della dropped the ball in midfield and Moffatt gratefully picked it up and galloped clear for Wigton's sixth try. Smith's conversion gave a score of 42-7. The only further action of note was the issue of yellow cards to a pair of wrestling forwards followed immediately by the final whistle.

This was fine win by Wigton over a team with real ambitions and one which puts Wigton in striking distance of the promotion chasers.

Malcolm Brown Comments:-

'Richard Benson (Brookside Garage, Wigton) and his guests were sponsoring the day and they had the challenging task of picking a man of the match from a host of strong performances. After much deliberation a shortlist produced Jamie Warwick, David Hanabury, Richard Moffatt, Andrew Brown and Stuart Creighton. It was a close call but they decided to give the award to number 8 Creighton - he's been on a run of form over recent weeks and it was well deserved.

This win keeps us nicely in touch with the pack with 14 games to go - plus the Cumbria Cup. That's a lot of rugby, lots of injuries/ opportunities, lots of away challenges and it's going to be an interesting journey with a squad developing 'experience' all the time.

Missing yesterday were Brough, Wannop, Deans, Harris, Rogers, Bonney, Sessford, Dan Cozens, Foy, Reed, Oliver Lewis, Leeson, Lee - all have played this season. Longer term injuries - Armstrong, Story, Jackson, Johnston R, Charters.'