Chelsea Flowers 59 Chapel Lane Tel 01625 52228 Fax 01625 524440 www.chelseaflowers.com The easyfish company In Chapel Lane Weddings, Portraits, Events, Music, Sports Pett and Fashion Photography John and Anita welcome you to THE FARMERS ARMS in Chapel Lane Largest choice of beers in Wilmslow and sixteen de luxe whisk(e)ys to choose from. STIGS BARBER’S SHOP IN CHAPEL LANE IS NOW OPEN The premises has been refurbished and we look forward to welcoming all Keith’s former customers and Wilmslow Rugby <strong>Club</strong> members …….and then there’s Moor Lane where you’ll find unbeatable value at B. Clark’s DIY and ironmongery store. If Clark’s don’t have it then it can’t be had. ALAN LANG 4 LINDOW PARADE CHAPEL LANE 100% British Produce from Cheshire, Cumbria and the Welsh Borders
Saturday 5 th . March 2011 North 1 West Kirkby Lonsdale 26 – 23 Wilmslow Another nail in the coffin of Wilmslow‟s dismal record away from home this season was duly hammered home by an enthusiastic Kirkby Lonsdale side. The Wolves had ample opportunities last weekend at Kirkby Lonsdale‟s picturesque ground on the edge of the Dales to have been out of sight within thirty minutes. Only once though did they manage a try, squandering at least three other cast iron chances by players getting isolated, throwing out long speculative passes, kicking the ball away and being harshly called back for a perfectly good scoring pass, which was ruled to be forward. The old maxim of „more haste less speed‟ came to mind as the Wolves though continually took the most unlikely options instead of patiently going through the phases, when that was required. In the end, they paid a heavy price for their profligacy, when the home side mounted something of a scoring blitz in the first quarter of the second half to effectively, as it proved, kill off the game. Three weeks ago, the KL side were languishing one place off the foot of the table, seemingly destined for relegation back to the Cumbrian and North Lancashire league but they had sparked a revival with two successive narrow wins, away at Wigton and last week at home against Broughton Park. Mindful of Wilmslow‟s recent record, they had earmarked this game as winnable and were most certainly up for it. The Wolves welcomed back fly half Bob MacCallum after his enforced absence on the ski slopes and showed two changes in the pack which had been outplayed at New Brighton the previous week. Number 8 Danny Jones was unable to travel so his place went to the young Danny Kennedy and Ollie Longmore started in the front row in place of Jack Walmsley. From the start, left wing Chris Lillie made a trade mark break, running from his own half deep into the KL twenty two in front of the posts. Unfortunately, he had become just isolated from his own support and the quick ball needed was illegally held up by the KL defence. MacCallum kicked the penalty but it was three points instead of seven. At this stage of the game, danger threatened every time the Wolves backs got the ball and after ten minutes, MacCallum was released to race away under the posts. Twice full back, Matthew King then did all the hard work in bisecting and carving his way through to promising positions which should have led to further scores but twice he got isolated and the opportunities were lost. It hadn‟t been all one way traffic though as the nuggety KL pack showed how capable it was in keeping possession and ploughing up the territory. It may not be the biggest pack or contain as many rugged hill farmers as it used to but their successors maintain the tradition of being awkward competitors. Scrum half James Hadwin landed two penalties to keep them in touch and then when Ben Day on the Wilmslow right tried a dinky little kick in the KL twenty two on the half hour, it fell to the home side and sensing space on their right they were soon in Wolves territory, where they recycled twice before No. 10 Liam Cleary found himself up against Wolves prop Tom Hall. It was no contest as he galloped round him for a critical score. It was 16-11 for the Wolves at half time with MacCallum scoring all the Wolves points but everyone knew that with the home side now about to enjoy the fall of the land and a steady North wind at their backs, the pendulum was about to shift. It only took them a couple of minutes to force a good attacking scrum, which enabled them to put full back Martin Knapton in at the corner. This was followed by another scrum from which they powered over to gain the lead for the first time, number 8 Tosh Shepherd getting the touch down. At this stage the Wolves had not laid hand on the ball since the start of the half and worse was to follow, as the Wolves forwards drove forward for scrum half Stuart Lindsay only to throw out a pass on half way which KL‟s open side flanker George Close gratefully accepted for an interception try. If Cleary had been on target with his conversions, then it would have been game over but he wasn‟t and the door was still ajar. To their credit, the Wolves staged a revival, one forward drive out of defence was particularly impressive as they all gathered round with backs straight and low. Bits and pieces of phases started to come together as some continuity was added to their efforts. Winger Tom Raynor, on for Chris Lillie, went close with a good run and with a bit more confidence to back himself might just have made the line. There was still twenty minutes left when prop Lewis McKay did just that, leaving a trail of bodies hanging on in his wake as he got the score to reduce the deficit to three points. And that was how it stayed. The Wolves probably had the better of the last quarter but still insisted on losing possession in promising positions and the home side probably had the best chance to lock and bolt the door, when they fouled up a scrum, which looked certain to produce a try, on the Wolves line. A final last desperate drawn out play by the Wolves got them into the KL twenty two for a final time before referee blew for no side. In scoring four tries, it would be churlish not to applaud the winning side‟s play but the Wolves really only had themselves to blame for the outcome. Coach Giles Heagerty was bitterly disappointed. He is convinced that this side has sufficient raw rugby talent but it must be applied with better decision making. Others would say that a bit more nous would make a big difference. HEARTBROKEN Wilmslow High School missed out narrowly on a Daily Mail Cup final at Twickenham in a 20-17 defeat at the hands of the holders Whitgift thanks to a great performance from their centre, Elliot Daly. CHRIS HEAL AT BROADSTREET RFC Sport can be cruel at times. With a kick from the talented Will Batterbury, the side top of the Schools Rugby performance league, was only a posts width away from taking this thrilling Daily Mail Cup Semi-Final game to penalty kicks but by the finest of margins the ball sailed the wrong side of the posts. Before the game had even begun it seemed like Wilmslow had been written off by everyone but themselves. Their creative belief would‟ve been boosted by the return of Toby Rowe, making his first competitive game of rugby since this time last year. Along with this, they had Max Harvey back who missed the quarter final with a shoulder injury and Tom Hudson joined the squad late as he was with the England U16 squad after his call up earlier this month. For Whitgift their reputation said it all, holders of the Daily Mail Cup and with the young starlet Elliot Daly, England U20 and London Wasps U18 player, at the helm they were seen as clear favourites not only to beat Wilmslow, but to regain the trophy. Reputation, however, can count for nothing unless you can prove it consistently and when Wilmslow scored first, Whitgift knew they weren‟t going to be in for an easy ride. In the programme notes Roger Hancock‟s speeches were dubbed as „legendary‟ and whatever him and Matt Bebbington said, it rubbed off on the players. After an incoherent first 9 minutes Wilmslow looked like they were shading the opening proceedings,even after some excellent ball carrying from Whitfgift. Good scummaging from the Wilmslow pack, in particular Sam Rodman, allowed their gifted backs to come into the game as Tom Hudson and Olly McCall both tried to create opportunities. Twelve minutes in for Wilmslow and a dream start as skipper Ethan Harding read the Whitgift passage of play and intercepted the pass to then go on to steam under the posts after a 40 metre run. McCall did what he does best and slotted over the extras. Both sides then missed penalty opportunities but Wilmslow had the greater possession in the first half. It was galling then that Oscar Hirskyji Douglas appeared to be impeded when he was about to stop a fine break by Daly that lead to Whitgift‟s opening score as half time approached. A penalty then sent Whitgift in at half time 10-7 to the good. The second half started with Whitgift exerting the pressure and once again it was Daly who kicked a penalty and then cut through the defence to score under the posts. Wilmslow now needed fourteen points without reply to get to Twickenham. With 15 minutes left Wilmslow‟s tenacity won them a penalty as Whitgift started to look edgy and were forced into errors. They were caught off side and McCall comfortable nailed it. Another darting run from Hudson gained valuable territory for Wilmslow and it lead to their second and most crucial try of the game. From left to right conducted by McCall, Wilmslow were worrying the holders and when the ball fell to Max Harvey he used his gusto to find his way through a crowd of players to one handily, touch the ball down and Wilmslow were back in business. From the restart Wilmslow were straight back in the faces of their opponents and won a penalty with just seconds remaining. Now this is a scenario which the majority of Wilmslow players must have dreamt off last night, a chance score in the last minute. Batterbury was selected for the kick because he is left footed and it was from the right side of the pitch, but more importantly he has kicked under pressure, most notably at Twickenham in the U15 final last year. The 15 year old looked cool, calm and collected as he had the chance to level the game. As the ball looked certain to go over, it floated wide to sound of the final whistle and jubilant Whitgift players. “Immensely proud and over the moon” Hancock and Bebbington said they were in an emotional post match talk judging by the facial expressions on Harvey and Street you just knew how much it had hurt them to lose like that and miss out on a chance of gracing the turf Twickenham. Nevertheless they are still the top school for rugby in the north as well as top of the performance league and more importantly have the chance of silverware with the Cheshire Cup where they have got byes to the semi finals. Wilmslow: T Hudson, S Jafarian, E Harding (capt), S James, T Rowe, O McCall, S Street, M Harvey, T Fantom, S Rodman, C Hubbard, O Lee, L Tyrell, S Klein, O-H Douglas Replacements: S Royle, J Walker, B Jones, T Watts, W Batterbury, S Broster, J Chappell Whitgift: C Crane, J O‟Sullivan, E Daly, S Cooke, J Canty, T Nicholls (capt), N Francis, A Hutcherson, S Hugklestone, S Wright, L Robinson, G Merrick, O Dickerson, H Butler, H Ledger Replacements: Y Mensah-Dika, B Razis, C Petschi, G Newman, S Nella, G Smith, G Harding Referee: N Cockburn
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