Club President DAVID BARKER Welcomes LEIGH - Pitchero

Saturday 19 th . February 2011 North 1 West
Wilmslow 23 – 9 Burnage
There were no ifs and buts about this one. The Wolves simply carried on from where they had left off the week before and
were well worth their fourteen point winning margin against the league leaders from Burnage. Right from the start the
Wolves had showed their intent to play expansive rugby coupled with an aggressive „in your face‟ defence and the visitors
just couldn‟t find any answer.
Burnage have a fine home record this season but on the road their margins have been much narrower and their only loss
this season had been earlier this month away to Northwich. With only one home fixture still to play and away visits to all
the other title contenders to come, they will have done well if they‟re still top of the heap at the end of April. This though
was a match from which they would have been expected to come away with a win against supposedly weaker opposition
but on the day, they just weren‟t allowed to settle and to impose themselves on events. Their forwards were held
throughout and without a dominant platform, their backs were forced to attack from deep positions into the face of a
determined defence that gave nothing away and inevitably errors costing them possession crept in as they tried to force
the pace.
It wasn‟t long before Elliot Brierley and Chris Lillie on the Wilmslow wings were being released by their inside backs from
anywhere on the pitch to torment their opponents with incisive line breaking runs. This adventurous approach, of course,
is not without risk when passes go adrift, land in no man‟s land or are dropped. Burnage though were unable to capitalise
as Wolves players were normally able to scramble back to tidy up any mess of their own making.
The opening score came after ten minutes, when a typical Wolves raid forced the visitors to concede a penalty to Josh
Longmore in front of their own posts. Danny Jones, the hugely influential Wolves No. 8, then took an accidental bang on
the head and had to
leave the field for
repairs and whilst this
was going on, his
substitute, Danny
Kennedy, crossed for
the Wolves first try on
the quarter hour. The
Wolves had turned
over an attacking
Burnage lineout and
spun the ball out to
Brierley on the opposite
wing and when he was
stopped the ball was
recycled to centre Mike
Black, who regathered
his own kick ahead to
feed Chris Lillie on the left. He was pulled down just short of the line but the loose ball was gathered by the supporting
Kennedy who plunged over. The whole move had been executed at blinding pace and showed what they were capable
of.
Next blood was an Adam Knight penalty for Burnage but the Wolves were soon in their faces again, forcing an error in
midfield, which was hacked on by Lillie, who outstripped everyone for the score. There was still time for a second
Longmore penalty before the break, which arrived 18-3 to the Wolves.
The second half started with that kindly Wolves prop, Taff Bartlem, playing his last game for the side before taking up a
new appointment in London, being harshly yellow carded for a technical offence which referee Damian Hamilton clearly
thought was deliberate. Whilst he was off the field, Burnage‟s Adam Knight reduced the margin to 18-9 with two penalties.
It was to be the only period of the game in which they were to have the upper hand.
When Bartlem returned, the Wolves just seemed to pick up the pace. Jones was conspicuous around the fringes, always
gaining a yard or two, whether he was carrying the ball, tackling or harassing; Kennedy covered and tackled bravely in the
open spaces and the pocket battleship, which is Chris Lillie just stood out with his powerful play. It was hardly a surprise
when Jones charged down a Burnage No. 10, Mike Raikes, clearing kick for stand in fly half, Ricky Chadwick, to touch
down on 60 minutes. That was to be the final score but an exciting final quarter saw Burnage‟s Raikes, Stuart Oldham
and Neil Baxter try everything to break out of the stranglehold to no avail as the best chances continued to fall to the
Wolves. Kennedy was called back for a supposed forward pass and several penalty opportunities were missed when they
found themselves without a kicker, following Longmore‟s departure with a knee injury.
No matter, it had been an excellent game of rugby with both sides contributing. Coach Giles Heagerty declared himself
happy with what he felt had been the best performance of the season. We outplayed the top side in the league, he said,
and if only we could play like that every week, then it would be us at the top, not them………………..if only!