Only a miracle can save Wigton now!

The team that beat Northwich in their previous game was still almost intact, with the only change being the loss of Tom Gardner who was replaced on the right wing by another Lowmoor Road stalwart, David Warwick answering the call to arms at the age of 36. So the Greens were confident that the forward pack could create a platform to release the dangerous backs, and to a degree this is what happened for large parts of the match.

Wigton started the stronger, again using their powerful running forwards Mark Deans and Captain Matthew Atkinson to make inroads. However, unlike Northwich 2 weeks ago the home defence was made of sterner stuff and the Wilmslow forwards made it clear they were not going to roll over, and when they had the ball they looked just as threatening as the men from Cumbria. Wigton did score the first try after a period of pressure and driving play that saw Atkinson cross the whitewash wide out on the right hand side which was added to by Greg Smith with a difficult conversion.

It seemed all set for Wigton’s pack to dominate and take the game away from the home side, however this was not to be and a see-saw game developed where the lead changed hand a number of times and neither team looked certain of victory until right up to the final whistle. Unfortunately where Wigton were attacking with conviction, their defence which had recently looked strong was starting to develop holes which the home side exploited. Only excellent scramble tackling from Smith, flanker Andrew Brown and Tane Manihera saved the day for the Greens. However, a stretched defence can only hold out for so long and eventually Wilmslow breached the often tired looking defence.

A further try from David Hanabury kept Wigton in contention, and with 10 minutes to go the score was 20-14 to the home side. A converted try would take the Cumbrians into the lead, and here the forwards took matters into their own hands and proceeded to drive towards the home side’s line, earning a number of penalties on the way. Eventually a 5m scrum was awarded to the visitors who had been impressive in the scrum again all afternoon, they proceeded to drive the home side backwards and the referee indicated a penalty advantage to Wigton, at which point they moved the ball to the left for wing Jordan Wood to score right by the corner flag. We will never know if the referee would have awarded a penalty try under the posts for the simple conversion, but Gregg Smith could not add the extras and the score moved to 20-19 to the home side, where it would remain.

A bonus point loss was at first glance such a bad result for the Cumbrians, however, as is often the case in sport other results elsewhere went against the Greens, with both Broughton Park and Anaemia’s securing surprise victories. In order to maintain their league status next year, Wigton need to secure a bonus point win at home to Leigh and rely on both Broughton Park and Anaemia’s losing at home in their last games. This is very unlikely as both teams are playing sides that are in a safe position and not needing the points.

Wigton must look to their away form as the reason they are in this predicament, and regardless of the league they play their rugby in next year, will need to address this issue as a matter of urgency!