Parsons’s late score helps Moore stay undefeated away from home

Old Bedians II 21 Moore 21 MOORE secured a draw on their travels thanks to a late try from substitute Adam Parsons to maintain an unbeaten streak away from Moss Lane.

Still reeling from last week’s loss against Knutsford, Moore took to the pitch with a far more physical approach than previous weeks and were able to dominate early proceedings with the lion’s share of possession against Old Bedians’ second XV.

However, it was the hosts who opened the scoring.

A long punt down field from the home team was not dealt with well by Moore, and from the ensuing turnover, Old Bedians were able to score in the corner to take a 5-0 lead.

Moore managed to pull back into the game quickly, with their forwards playing a good game up front which saw them continually breaking the gain line.

With Old Bedians having to commit more numbers around the ruck, space eventually opened in the middle for Joe Pidgeon to score his 10th try of the season.

Not long after, the pack once again provided the impetus for Moore’s attacking threat, with a beautifully driven maul just outside the Old Bedians’ 22m managing to get over the line, only to be held up.

From the resulting scrum, however, the power of Jack Harvey saw the scoreline extend to 14-5 in Moore’s favour.

Moore’s defence, which had been suspect in the previous week’s game, was far better here.

However, their work was made harder by a somewhat suspect yellow card for Joe Pidgeon, reducing the team to 14.

The hosts took immediate advantage and managed to pull a try back during this period to score another unconverted try and close within four points at the midway stage.

Old Bedians started the second half the brighter and went ahead with a wellworked move down the wing.

The industry up front that Moore had profited from earlier was sadly lacking now, as time and again promising attacks were blunted by poor decision-making.

Old Bedians started to ask serious questions of the Moore defence.

However, some excellent work which saw Bedians driven back behind the gain line at times was for nought, with Moore gifting Bedians penalty after penalty for a multitude of offences around the ruck. Two of these penalties were kickable and Bedians took a 21-14 lead with around six minutes to go.

Moore’s Tony Fretwell was also shown a yellow card during this period.

Moore, to their credit, showed impressive resilience and were able to reclaim the ball from the kick-off.

This triggered an impressive passage of play which saw each of the 14 men remaining on the field touch the ball at least once in a 90 second period as the forwards once again looked to power upfield, with the backs taking advantage of holes.

An excellent low drive by Parsons eventually got Moore over the line to tie the score at 21-21, his try being successfully converted.

With time winding down, Moore received a penalty just inside the Old Bedians half.

Sam Craven stepped up to try and take a win back to Moss Lane with his boot, but despite having the length the accuracy was just out and the match ended all-square. ● Moore host second-placed outfit Manchester II XV this Saturday afternoon at Moss Lane with the match having a 3pm kick-off time.