Greens March On....

A sound first half performance saw Wigton wrap up the points against bottom club Hawcoat Park who showed enough attacking threat to suggest that bottom spot gives a false impression of their abilities. Indeed, the Barrow club rallied effectively and dominated the last half hour of the match but were unable to pick up any league points for their efforts.

Wigton’s early possession saw them threaten with strong approach work by centre Richard Moffatt and full back Stephen Harris. However, any chance of a try seemed thwarted when the ball was turned over virtually on the Hawcoat Park tryline. The visitors’ clearance kick brought little respite as Wigton won a lineout and drove the ball to the five metre line. The ball was moved out wide where the Greens had an overlap. Only a high tackle stopped winger Kieron Miller from scoring but referee Martin Maughan had no hesitation in awarding a seven point penalty try.

Hawcoat Park showed they were a threat when the ball was moved wide with full back Brian Marwood being particularly elusive and pacey. Unfortunately the necessary precision was not there and try scoring chances went begging. On one occasion the ball was knocked on by a defender in the tackle and a second chance was missed when Marwood failed to link with winger Rodney Odondi who had space on the right.

As is often the case, the next try went to the team that had seemed under pressure. Moffatt intercepted to put Wigton on the front foot again. Wigton were given a penalty which gave them a lineout deep the the Hawcoat Park 22. The ball was caught and moved wide. Centre Mark Deans bumped off his opposite number and gave Wigton the advantage in numbers. Moffatt handled and passed to stand off Dan Reed who was in support to score a try which he converted for a 14-0 try. Throughout the afternoon the strong midfield running of Moffatt and Deans was a constant threat for the visitors.

Once again, Hawcoat Park seized the initiative in response to conceding a try. Winger Joe Dalton was edged into touch near Wigton’s 22. The defenders’ lineout went astray enabling Hawcoat Park to threaten the line. Scrum half Lewis Sayle opened up the defence with a dummy at the base of a ruck, but he lost the ball as he tried to wriggle over the line.

Again Hawcoat Park’s profligacy was punished when they turned over the ball on half way. Moffatt powered between two defenders to motor into the 22. He met the challenge of Marwood with a powerful fend and crossed for a splendid individual try. Reed was unable to convert but Wigton now had a 19-0 lead.

Wigton seemed destined to increase their lead when awarded a penalty in front of the posts just inside the 22. Instead of taking three easy points they tapped and went for a try. Hawcoat Park seemed to have frustrated the attack when they won the ball near the line. They were however, careless in possession and turned over as they tried to play their way out of trouble. Wigton had the simple task of passing along the line to the left where Harris took advantage of the overlap to score the bonus point fourth try, giving the home side a 24-0 lead as the whistle blew for halftime.

Wigton started the second half with a sustained period of pressure in the Hawcoat Park 22, showing good ball retention. Harris was pushed into touch just short of the line. Moffatt and second row Jamie Warwick, leading the way in the pack, both drove hard for the line. A penalty set up a lineout which was caught and driven for hooker Elliot Armstrong to register an unconverted try. At 29-0, spectators could be forgiven for expecting the flood gates to open.

Instead, it was Hawcoat Park who dominated the remainder of the game. Wigton did not help their cause with poor discipline which saw the penalty count mount up and give the visitors plenty of possession in the home 22.

A quick tap in the 22 enabled no 8 Alfie White to score a converted try, narrowing the score to 29-7. To be fair to Wigton, they did produce some determined defence to deny Hawcoat Park on several occasions. They did find it hard to get play downfield. A series of average clearance kicks and a litany of penalties meant that play kept returning to the Wigton 22.

Deans defused one attack by ripping the ball from an opposition forward. The Wigton scrum put the visiting pack under pressure and Warwick started to exert pressure on the Hawcoat Park throw, at one time taking three consecutive lineouts on their throw.

Both Hawcoat Park wingers were close to scoring, but sturdy tackles produce knock ons. Wigton were tackling robustly but on the debit side Harris was yellow carded for what must have been an accumulation of penalties. Prop John Donnan did a lot of ball carrying but whilst the defence was stretched, it did not break. Second row Grady Slater at one point broke through some tackles to break clear. However he had no support with him and his attempt to kick and chase enabled Wigton to touch the ball over the line for a 22 drop out.

However the amount of possession eventually paid off for Hawcoat Park. When a second try came it seemed deceptively easy. Second row Callum Ramsey caught the defence napping when he picked up and went straight through a ruck to gallop over for a try. This was the last significant action of the game which finished 29-12.

Although this was not the greatest match in terms of quality and skill levels, it should be noted that Wigton have an impressive rota of players unavailable through injury, work commitments and other reasons. A good proportion of today’s team were playing Wanderers rugby this time last year and it was encouraging to see the like of Josh Nicholson return to first team action after showing promise a couple of seasons ago.

Taking the league as a whole, Tarleton have made a good start but I would venture to say that no one seems to be emerging as a dominant team and potential league champions as yet.