Trafford MV Suffer Heavy Loss To Aspatria 73-31

Trafford MV made the long journey into North Cumbria in bright sunny conditions ideal for the type of game that was later to unfold.

MV started well and launched a series of early attacks forcing errors from the Aspatria full back which brought 2 early penalty kicks which Pat Eccles converted confidently for an early 0-6 lead,it took a little while for the home side to establish their game pattern.

The bigger home side were now starting to take a steady amount of possession from the set pieces and their first attack saw good handling force a passage of play down the right flank which saw their winger break away and score behind the posts.

The try was converted 7-6 to Aspatria. With 20 mins on the clock Aspatria came strongly at MV once again with the powerful running full back entering the line to split MV’s defence and stroll under the posts 14-6.

The home side were looking very comfortable on the ball and had MV under considerable pressure with their open play scoring further tries to get well in front at 35-12 at the half time break.

It was important that MV stayed competitive in this game now otherwise the floodgates could easily have opened. Stuart Crampton stood out for MV in this second period of play both probing in attack and hard-working in defence.

Despite Aspatria continuing to build their score MV did not fall by the wayside and the watching spectators enjoyed an enthralling afternoons rugby with both sides playing expansive rugby and both scoring points ( the score for this half being 38-19).

MV rallied somewhat with tries from James Matthie, John Gillam and Stuart Crampton with 2 converted by Eccles. MV battled hard and were very unlucky not to come away with a bonus point yet again.

Scoring 31pts away from home should be enogh to win many games but this result was enough to push Aspatria into 3rd position in the Lancs/Cumbria League.

MV are now set up for this weekends fixture against Aldwinians who sit just above MV in the league with only 4 points between the sides.

MV will hope to repeat their success when they won at Aldwinians 22-24. Trafford MV are calling on all their local support to come on down and support the lads in this first home game of 2017 kick off is 2.15pm

(By Wilf Dooley)