Trafford MV edged out away at Aldwinians

By Wilf Dooley

On a cold November afternoon Trafford MV travelled to Audenshaw to face Aldwinians in a crucial match for both clubs, looking to climb away from the relegation zone.

In a nail biting encounter both sides battled it out for the full 80 minutes with just a whisker separating the sides at the end of the match.

Trafford opened brightly and it was good to see them get on the scoreboard early as good play enabled winger Jamie Kingdon to burst his way through and charge over to touchdown and Ben Wainwright added the extra’s for a 0 – 7 lead.

Aldwinians showed the competitiveness of this league by replying almost immediately with line out catch and drive to power over the line, the conversion was missed 5 – 7.

Aldwinians repeated the process on left touchline as another catch and drive saw the No 8 go over, converted 12-7 to the home side.

Trafford MV’s defence was, on the whole, much improved however Aldwinians did exploit this aspect of MV’s game as they broke out of defence and run half the pitch to score, the missed conversion put the score at 17-7. Good pressure and forced penalties leads to MV ball whipped wide left for Josh Salmon to score and Ben Wainwright to convert 17-14.

MV win good lineout ball on half time and spin the ball quickly right and score through Jamie Parker, conv missed 17-19 to the visiting side Trafford MV.MV win line out on half time spin ball right and score through Jamie Parker conv missed 17-19

The second half saw Aldwinians come again as they attacked down the right of the pitch forcing a try too wide out to be converted 22-19.

At this point it looked as though Trafford were struggling a bit to contain the home side as a good home scrum on 22 and slick back move brings try in right corner conv missed 27-19 to Aldwinians.

Trafford stuck to the task at hand and kept fighting their way forward in the pack and it eventually paid off as the game was coming to a close with Tyler Stevens driving over the line and Ben Wainwright closing the game with the conversion for a final score of 27-26 to Alwinians. 

This was a much improved performance from Trafford MV and gives inspiration for the games to come.

Ben Wainwright picked up the player of the match award for TMV. Trafford now look ahead to the next game which is Aspull at home this coming Saturday ko 2.15pm.

Trafford are now in a contest with New Brighton and Aspull for league points to move away from the dangerous relegation places.

The search is on for talented local rugby players who might be interested in competing for positions if TMV’s two senior men’s teams as the coaches look to the players to drive the standard of play upwards and to climb the table in the coming weeks.