Didsbury worthy winners of derby

HEATON Moor made the short journey to Ford Lane for the first episode of this season’s derby double header.

Moor were seven points up after skipper Danny Child turned down a certain three points from a penalty bang in front, instead opting to take a scrum which resulted in No 8 Ben Jones barging his way over for the opening score.

Seven points up, so far so good, However, it wasn’t long before Toc opened their account with a penalty kicked for touch followed by a textbook catch and drive for an unconverted try in the corner.

Moor were dominating territory and despite three hookers in the front row, they were looking more than comfortable in the scrum.

After the third lost line out, and with Moor dominating possession and territory, Toc were forced to live off scraps but try as they might they simply couldn’t string two passes together.

However, Toc scored their second try before Moor reduced the deficit with a Child penalty that saw the teams go into the break at 10-10.

The second half started with both sides repeating the tale of the first with Moor edging territory but struggling to break the gain line when in sight of the whitewash.

Toc were clearly looking the more dangerous side but again struggled to keep possession.

A Child penalty allowed Moor to retake the lead before the seminal moment of the game occurred after a good Toc attack was thwarted by Toc themselves. Despite stopping their opponents on the line, Moor lost No 8 Ben Jones and back row colleague Tom Yeomans to a blow to the head and an ankle injury respectively.

With a lengthy stoppage for injury, and from the scrum restart, Toc were in no mood to be so generous this time round and it came as no surprise when they forced their way over for their third try.

The bonus point try quickly followed after another poor Toc line out was tapped down by Moor second row James Elis which was then hacked on with one of the Didsbury flyers before touching down.

Child did manage to pull back another penalty before Toc put the final nail in the Moor coffin with their fifth try of the day that was well converted from the touchline. That saw a final score of 27-16 to the hosts who were worthy winners.

Five tries to one tells it own story in a game that was very well refereed, full credit to the Moor lads who fought to the end with wing David Adebo catching the eye.