Poor start from Trafford MV gives Heaton Moor the win

By Wilf Dooley

In lovely autumnal conditions a good crowd gathered to watch this crunch game between Trafford MV and Heaton Moor, two sides struggling to get to grips with their seasons rugby. Only a single league point separated the teams just near the foot of the table.

Heaton Moor came out of the blocks flying before the home side had even finished lacing their boots. Before the crowd had made their way to the touch line Moor had crossed the MV line for a 0-5 lead missing the conversion.

It was as if Trafford were shell shocked and rooted to the spot as Moor quickly ran up a 0-27 lead with only a quarter of the game gone.

Alarm bells were ringing. Trafford MV needed a rocket to bring some sparkle to their game and this came as Eanna Glynn broke away down the left wing to get close to the posts to touchdown and Pat Eccles convert 7-27 which was the score as the teams broke for half time.

The second half saw a bit more passion from Trafford as they ground their way back into the game but defence was always flimsy looking – much work needs to be done to solidify the defensive line.

Trafford edged themselves closer following a good scrum ball as stand off Luke O’Shea danced his way through a packed defence to score and Eccles convert 14-27. Heaton Moor reacted straight from the kick off with try under the sticks, converted, 14-34.

MV were playing much better at this point and got themselves closer once again as a typical barn storming run from Jamie Kingdon took him over the line, Eccles converting once again 21-34.

Time was however running out for Trafford and Heaton Moor added to their tally as Trafford gave away loose ball deep in the Moor 22 which was slipped to their left wing who skipped past 4 MV tackles as he raced down the touchline virtually untouched to run in and score under the posts for an easy conversion and to close off the scoring at 21-41.

The win saw Heaton Moor leap up four places in the league in a tight bottom half of the table. 

This was a poor defeat for Trafford MV who must now get back to the drawing in board to look at ball retention, defence and of course confidence in their own play. The ability is there among the team but the players need to be on the same playlist and take in what the coaching team are saying. 

Trafford now have 3 games coming up against teams in this bottom half and really do need to make an impression. This coming weekend (9th) Trafford travel to Aldwinians and will be pushing hard to bring league points home with them. Trafford MV 2nd XV are also playing away this Saturday at Tyldesley – both games kick off at 2.15pm.

The Clubhouse will be open at Trafford MV for the Autumn Internationals and any local residents or fans of rugby are invited to come down and watch the games with us.