Close....but no cigar!

In the closing stages it was Wigton who were pushing for a winning score with Sandbach desperately hanging on.

A Wigton maul was brought down in dubious circumstances right on the Sandbach line while David Hanabury just couldn’t find the range into the wind with two tough penalty attempts from 40 yards out.
Sandbach had gone into the game with a 100% record and only Liverpool St. Helens had taken a bonus point off them in a 16-12 defeat. So Wigton got as close to them as any team so far.

Yet the visitors had looked a polished outfit and with the wind behind them in the second-half many observers – of Wigton persuasion as well as the neutrals – felt they would run away with the game, but they didn’t.
Had they realised that Wigton were short of two or three regulars in the back division they might have spun the ball wider more often, and the fact that they often opted to take-on their hosts up front was seized on with relish by the Greens.

Wigton couldn’t have asked for a better start to the game. Fergus Ledingham put in a great 40 metre break in the first minute and had his half-back partner David Hanabury with him to take the pass and score under the posts. Hanabury added the conversion.

Sandbach looked dangerous when they moved the ball in the backs where Wigton were shy of Chris Pattinson, Richard Moffat and Greg Smith, while losing centre Ryan Clark to injury during the game.
It took 20 minutes for the visitors to draw level when they scored out wide but the kick was missed and Wigton came back well to get the next points.

Hanabury landed a 30 metre penalty and soon afterwards put over another from a similar distance to give Wigton an encouraging 13-5 lead.
Sandbach applied strong pressure in the closing stages of the half and eventually got in for another unconverted try. Right on half-time they were successful with a penalty to send them in at the break all square.
With the wind behind them in the second half Sandbach were expected to dominate but it was Wigton who made good ground from the re-start kick and were awarded a penalty which Hanabury put over.
Sandbach built-up a head of steam to apply almost constant pressure and the Wigton defence was outstanding.

So good was it that the Sandbach fly-half opted to put over a drop goal on 61 minutes so that his side gained parity again.
A defensive mistake by Wigton ended with a five-metre scrum and from it Sandbach got over for a converted try which gave them the lead for the first time with just ten minutes of the game remaining.
But it was Wigton who put in a big finish as the forwards really took charge. They got over from a rolling maul in the corner with Mark Deans, back from injury, taking credit for the touchdown. Unfortunately Hanabury couldn’t nail a tough touchline conversion.

Then in a big finish Wigton had another powerful maul taken down on the Sandbach line, with no action taken, and Hanabury had those two final shots at goal to snatch victory but were just too far out to pop over.
Injuries will continue to be a concern to Wigton, who don’t have the depth to their squad to be ultra competitive in this League, and as well as Clark they also lost prop Lindsay Walker during the game to add to their problems ahead of Saturday’s trip to Rochdale.