BackSat 22 Mar 2025 ·  Regional 1 North West
Stoke on Trent
1st XV
26
29
Tries: H Hawley, T Akehurst (2), T Cole, J FuryConversions: R James (2)Yellow Carded: R Pearl
Late Akehurst Surge Wins it for Wirral
Andrew Broadbent23 Mar - 16:11
Another tight game results in an away win.
The last few matches have seen Wirral involved in a number of close encounters and this was the case this week on the club’s first visit to Stoke. The match at Wirral earlier in the season saw the home team come through to win 35-20. The game this week was very interesting with decisions being made, which makes it difficult for me to comment on, in this report.
Wirral were playing a team with a much bigger pack and this came through during the game. WILL MORRIS played at full back (a position he knows well); with RHYS JAMES playing in the centre in the absence of the unavailable MARK WILLIAMS. GEORGE BURROWS and TOM COLE played on the wings.
In the forwards; DAN CARROL was out through injury which meant changes in the front row. In the back row, ROB PEARL and CONNOR MOORE were in the back row alongside NICK HEARNS. The substitutes were JOE FURY, MATT RINGER and DAN HARVEY.
In the first half, Wirral were playing up the slight incline and in the first 15 minutes were doing much of the attack and created a chance to score down the right with a good break but the final pass to the winger was missed. From this position high up the pitch a Stoke attack managed to get the ball out to their left winger who kicked ahead and won the long run in to touch down 7m from the corner flag, which was converted, 7-0 (16 mins). Six minutes later, pressure on our line enabled Stoke to score again through the forwards 10m from the corner flag, again converted 14-0. The referee followed the play and was down on his knees able to declare the try.
On 27 mins, whilst on the attack, ROB PEARL was sin binned for work he had done in trying to recover the ball. On 30mins, the first of the Stoke players received a yellow card. Continued pressure from Wirral saw the ball among the backs and a long pass from BEN BROOKS to HARRY HAWLEY saw the latter cross in the corner, the conversion was just missed, 14-5.
Stoke continued to attack and from a maul 10m out resulted in them scoring, 10m from the corner flag, the conversion was missed, 19-5, (33 minutes).
Wirral back in the Stoke half resulted in another Yellow card against Stoke after 39 mins. At this stage, the referee had already spoken to the Stoke captain on 3 occasions. On 40 minutes played, ROB PEARL had still not being recalled to the pitch despite protestations; allowed back on after 14 mins after Wirral had pressure on the Stoke defence. The half ended eventually with Stoke leading.
The second half started with Wirral playing down the slight slope and early on made a couple of changes with JOE FURY and MATT RINGER coming on for ADAM DON and CONNOR MOORE. On 54 minutes played, Stoke through their forwards scored the fourth try (after close inspection by the referee) and try bonus point to extend their lead to 26-5.
On 62 minutes the Wirral attack got into gear, with a well worked try by TOM AKEHURST-again converted by RHYS JAMES to reduce the Stoke lead to 26-12. 5 minutes later further back play enabled TOM COLE to score in the corner, again not converted 26-17,could Wirral come back from this far behind?
In the meantime a further heavy tackle ended with a Stoke player being dismissed (his second yellow card). This comes after further yellow cards to the Stoke team and further discussions with the Stoke captain. The pressure was all coming from Wirral and pressure on the Stoke line resulted in young JOE FURY touching down and enabling RHYS JAMES to convert, 26-24 (72 mins).
Play was being contained in mid field with a Wirral maul gradually moving forward until on the blindside, TOM AKEHURST collected the ball and raced some 40m to score in the corner, in what turned out to be the match winning score, the conversion was missed, 26-29.
It was difficult to understand how much time was now left as there was a substantial delay until the ball was made available, eventually after 40++ minutes, Wirral were awarded a penalty and BEN BROOKS cleared to touch to end the game.
The results mean that Wirral cannot finish less than 4th in the league and finish the season on April 5th against KENDAL at the Memorial Ground, it will be recalled that Wirral won 33-31 at Kendal in the first game of the season.
Congratulations should go to Anselmians who will finish second in the league after beating Rossendale in a tight game at Eastham on Saturday, how different the league would have been if Wirral had been awarded a win over Rossendale a few weeks ago.
Richard McNeil
Wirral were playing a team with a much bigger pack and this came through during the game. WILL MORRIS played at full back (a position he knows well); with RHYS JAMES playing in the centre in the absence of the unavailable MARK WILLIAMS. GEORGE BURROWS and TOM COLE played on the wings.
In the forwards; DAN CARROL was out through injury which meant changes in the front row. In the back row, ROB PEARL and CONNOR MOORE were in the back row alongside NICK HEARNS. The substitutes were JOE FURY, MATT RINGER and DAN HARVEY.
In the first half, Wirral were playing up the slight incline and in the first 15 minutes were doing much of the attack and created a chance to score down the right with a good break but the final pass to the winger was missed. From this position high up the pitch a Stoke attack managed to get the ball out to their left winger who kicked ahead and won the long run in to touch down 7m from the corner flag, which was converted, 7-0 (16 mins). Six minutes later, pressure on our line enabled Stoke to score again through the forwards 10m from the corner flag, again converted 14-0. The referee followed the play and was down on his knees able to declare the try.
On 27 mins, whilst on the attack, ROB PEARL was sin binned for work he had done in trying to recover the ball. On 30mins, the first of the Stoke players received a yellow card. Continued pressure from Wirral saw the ball among the backs and a long pass from BEN BROOKS to HARRY HAWLEY saw the latter cross in the corner, the conversion was just missed, 14-5.
Stoke continued to attack and from a maul 10m out resulted in them scoring, 10m from the corner flag, the conversion was missed, 19-5, (33 minutes).
Wirral back in the Stoke half resulted in another Yellow card against Stoke after 39 mins. At this stage, the referee had already spoken to the Stoke captain on 3 occasions. On 40 minutes played, ROB PEARL had still not being recalled to the pitch despite protestations; allowed back on after 14 mins after Wirral had pressure on the Stoke defence. The half ended eventually with Stoke leading.
The second half started with Wirral playing down the slight slope and early on made a couple of changes with JOE FURY and MATT RINGER coming on for ADAM DON and CONNOR MOORE. On 54 minutes played, Stoke through their forwards scored the fourth try (after close inspection by the referee) and try bonus point to extend their lead to 26-5.
On 62 minutes the Wirral attack got into gear, with a well worked try by TOM AKEHURST-again converted by RHYS JAMES to reduce the Stoke lead to 26-12. 5 minutes later further back play enabled TOM COLE to score in the corner, again not converted 26-17,could Wirral come back from this far behind?
In the meantime a further heavy tackle ended with a Stoke player being dismissed (his second yellow card). This comes after further yellow cards to the Stoke team and further discussions with the Stoke captain. The pressure was all coming from Wirral and pressure on the Stoke line resulted in young JOE FURY touching down and enabling RHYS JAMES to convert, 26-24 (72 mins).
Play was being contained in mid field with a Wirral maul gradually moving forward until on the blindside, TOM AKEHURST collected the ball and raced some 40m to score in the corner, in what turned out to be the match winning score, the conversion was missed, 26-29.
It was difficult to understand how much time was now left as there was a substantial delay until the ball was made available, eventually after 40++ minutes, Wirral were awarded a penalty and BEN BROOKS cleared to touch to end the game.
The results mean that Wirral cannot finish less than 4th in the league and finish the season on April 5th against KENDAL at the Memorial Ground, it will be recalled that Wirral won 33-31 at Kendal in the first game of the season.
Congratulations should go to Anselmians who will finish second in the league after beating Rossendale in a tight game at Eastham on Saturday, how different the league would have been if Wirral had been awarded a win over Rossendale a few weeks ago.
Richard McNeil
Further reading