Wigton close in on the title!

Matthew Atkinson became probably Wigton's biggest starting winger of all time as he took a break from forward duties due to a bruised foot sustained playing keepy-uppy with a lintel. He scored a hat-trick in his new position. David Hanabury was not risked, having picked up a slight injury in training, so he was replaced at fly half by Ali Ledingham who produced a pyrotechnic performance, fizzing all over the pitch like an exploding firecracker. He too scored a hat trick and converted ten out of the fourteen tries. Wigton's scoring rate is all the more remarkable when one considers that all the points came in 65 minutes, as the score was nil nil after quarter of an hour.

Indeed, Didsbury got off to such a good start that a neutral spectator would have thought they were the runaway league leaders and the team in green the relegation candidates. In the first fifteen minutes Wigton were never out of their own half and penned inside their 22 for a fair stretch. Didsbury tackled with determination, dominated the scrums and were generally well on top. They looked to have a dangerous runner in winger Enita Okidiko, who made a terrific run coming inside on an angle, only for his offload to support to be ruled forward. Didsbury pushed Wigton off their own ball and were held up just short of the line. However, an often forgotten aspect of Wigton's play this season has been their defence, and the green wall stayed intact until a penalty gave them the chance to enter enemy territory for the first time on the 15 minute mark. Ali Ledingham tapped, made ground and had winger Atkinson in support. He galloped into the 22 and the ball found its way into touch. Story won the resulting lineout which Wigton drove and eventually mauled their way over the line, with young prop Lindsay Walker being a popular scorer.

Now Wigton were under way and quickly added two more tries straight from kick offs. Firstly Didsbury's kicked was fielded on the right by the forwards and quickly moved left through the hands of the backs. Centre Richard Moffatt made the key line break and was able to draw the last defender and pass to winger Callum Studholme, who scampered in for a converted try to make the score 12-0.

Next Didsbury were architects of their own misfortune when the kick off failed to go ten metres. From the resulting scrum No 8 Lee picked up and made ground towards the 22. The ball was recycled quickly and passed left. Deans improvised a good pass to centre Will Miller who cut inside and wrong-footed four defenders to go under the sticks. Poor Didsbury had enjoyed fifteen minutes of domination, followed by five minutes without the ball and were now 19-0 down.

Didsbury had a chance to get back in the game when Wigton gifted them possession through a knock on. Wigton were penalised at a ruck and Didsbury put the kick deep into Wigton territory. Their attempt at a catch and drive was thwarted but Wigton gave away a penalty for offside. However, the relatively straightforward chance was missed.

Then came the steady ticking over of the scoreboard as Wigton scored tries at regular intervals, with only one period of respite for the visitors. Whenever Wigton went forward and produced quick ball, the rapidly tiring defence was in disarray and the sharp Wigton backs made hay.

Marrs effected a turnover at a tackle and the ball was moved left to Miller he put in a well weighted chip for Studholme to run onto. However he was pulled back and the defence was penalised. A quick tap saw the ball moved to the opposite wing, giving Atkinson a chance to run through the defence for his first try.

Next, ball was won at a lineout and taken forward. When it was released to the backs, Ali Ledingham attacked the broken field and completed a fifty metre run for his first try.
Wigton almost scored with a spectacular effort from the kick off, but the last pass of an eighty metre move went to ground, so they had to be content with a 33-0 score at halftime.

In the second half Wigton kicked off and regained their own kick and immediately attacked right. Deans put in a big run and Miller produced a beautifully timed pass to give Atkinson the run to the line.

Wigton now were running the ball at every opportunity as they played at high pace. As defenders started to drop off the odd tackle, Marrs and especially Deans, became more prominent. It was noticeable that more and more Deans was to be seen loitering with intent in the wider channels, sometimes looking like a snorting rhino and sometimes looking like a forward having a breather.

Okidiko took advantage of his opposite number's inexperience and made a strong run down the flank until he reached full back Smith. There he was strongly tackled and when Wigton gained possession Deans set off on a rampage. He passed to Atkinson who having seen what the proper backs do, came back on an angled run at pace and trotted under the sticks.

From the restart Wigton moved the ball right again and Deans combined with Atkinson again in damaging runs. Atkinson was brought down a few yards short but when the ball was whipped left the defence was left with a skeleton staff. Moffatt it was who took advantage of the sparse defensive resources to claim a try and bring up the half century.

Next it was the turn of Deans himself to score. Ali Ledingham and Miller were prominent in the build up and Atkinson turned provider, showing good hands to draw his man and set Deans on his path to the line.

The next try again saw Deans punching holes in the defence and this time Gregg Smith was on hand to show his pace and run to the line. When Didsbury were turned over after picking up at a scrum, Deans carried the ball forward and offloaded to Ali Ledingham. He seemed to have loads of time as the defenders stood back to see what he was going to do. He took advantage of their indecision and his own elusiveness as he wriggled and squirmed his way over the line.

With the score 71-0, there was a break from all the tries for a few minutes as referee Alistair Jones impressed the home supporters with his knowledge of the laws and found a variety of interesting reasons to penalise the home team. Just for good measure, scrum half Fergus Ledingham was the recipient of a yellow card. Unfortunately Didsbury were unable to take advantage on the scoreboard but were able to run a few minutes off the clock.

Then came a final flourish from Wigton. John Story, who with his fellow flanker, Andy Brown, had been tireless with a lot of spade work all afternoon, made a break. As he looked for support, there coming up at (comparatively) high speed and attaining his highest velocity for five and a half years, was Andrew Bell. He took the ball at pace and passed out of the tackle to Studholme who completed the scoring end of the business.
The next try was a solo effort from the only Ledingham on the pitch now that Fergus was on an enforced break. He took a quick tap from a penalty just inside his own half, sold a dummy and then jinked his way to the line for a delightful try. From the kick off, Wigton kept passing the ball around, keeping it alive and probing for a gap. Ledingham pulled off an outrageous reverse pass before Andy Brown made space to cross the line with the tiniest show of the ball. The conversion made the score 90-0.

Didsbury tried to have the last word and enjoyed a bit of possession near the end. Determined to get rid of the invidious zero beside their name on the scoreboard, they attempted a drop at goal, but, in the last significant action of the game, the ball sailed wide, proving that when it's not your day, it's really not your day.

The game was sponsored by On-line Systems who nominated Ali Ledingham, Mark Deans, Andy Brown and Callum Studholme for the Man of the Match award. Mark Deans took the honours and was presented with the award by Greg Morton.

Next week Wigton have a much tougher proposition as they travel to second place team Eccles. Coach Brown will hope to be picking from strength for this important match. Eccles will almost certainly see the scrum and driving maul as their main weapon whilst Wigton will look to the pace of their game to seal the result. Eccles will be aware of the threat from Aspatria to their playoff slot and will go all out for the win. Wigton will, on this occasion at any rate, be hoping to do their neighbours a good turn. A Wigton win would see them crowned as league champions with not even a theoretical chance of the gap being closed.