Toil and Virtuosity: Wigan U11’s Restore Home Pride.

Club housekeeping duties and ‘which pitch’ negotiations completed, our coaches could then turn their attention to today’s play, and after some formalities with respect to Remembrance Sunday, with the sun shining, play finally got under way at 11.25.

Ashton made a good start, and Wigan made tackle after tackle to keep them at bay. Ashton’s heavier front row going largely uncontested at the ruck. Kyle, returning today from a lengthy injury break, getting stuck in with tackles as usual, with Joe building on recent progress getting to grips with any Ashton ball carrier.

A great clearance kick from Sam, was well followed-up by Mack, passing to birthday boy Eli who kept the move alive and made the pass to winger William who engaged the after-burners and crossed the whitewash. Harry added the two.

Ashton bounced back and were proving hard to handle, forcing a handling error by Wigan, but after winning the scrum, again the ball came to William, crossing the pitch before going over a second time. Two more for Harry too.

From the re-start Sam made a great take, with a run up into the teeth of the Ashton line, which was opened with his pass to Joss, with a great ball to Kyle who ran ¾ of the field to score. Harry keeping his clean sheet of extras.

Wigan’s fourth try was a masterclass. Involving some neat quick passing from Eli, Joe and others. William completing his hat-trick, and allowing two more points for Hit-man Harry.

Ashton stuck at it though, despite the scoring frenzy against them, and they began forcing errors. Wigan were also guilty perhaps of some panic-passing, particularly from the floor. Despite Brad and Jacob’s big efforts, as a team Wigan did not compete well enough in the rucks. As possession switched, some half-hearted tackling by Wigan let Ashton in for a try, with two minutes of the first half remaining.

Keen to keep the momentum, Ashton made a break up the wing but as the runner turned to avoid touch he hit the brick wall that was Harry arriving on scene. Wigan replied with something of a scrappy attack, culminating in a scrum mid way in to the Ashton half. Crafty Joss went blind for a try, with the half-time team-talks already under way as Harry completed the formalities.

Score at the break Wigan 35 Ashton-under-Lyne 5

Ashton opened the second half with fire in their bellies and scored a well earned early try, this time making the conversion too. Wigan’s reply was to rapidly chase down Harry’s long kick with William subsequently ducking and weaving over for his fourth. Birthday boy Luca was unlucky with his conversion attempt.

Some even play followed, with Ashton more competitive than they had been in the first period. A gift in possession was the catalyst for their second try.

Comfortably ahead still, Wigan’s handling improved and they still made full use of the width available, Mack keeping a move alive by scraping a ball off his boot laces at pace, ultimately allowing Eli space to almost score.

But as the sun disappeared behind a cloud, Ashton scored a breakaway try bringing them within snatching distance of turning the game.

But you can’t win a game without the ball, and Jacob and Sam had some success at ripping the ball, with Sam getting a well deserved try as reward. Eli’s conversion attempt had the height and direction, but not the legs.

The final minutes were literally end to end, with a big run from Brad being answered by a fast break by Ashton, luckily not beyond the reach of William, with Sam the Hammer providing the muscle to end the move, just as the hooter blew.

Full time: Wigan 45 Ashton-under-Lyne 26

Certainly a game of two halves, with the visitors ever more threatening as the game progressed. Handling Ashton’s penchant for the maul was a big ask of our relatively petit forwards who stuck at it admirably. Again Wigan played their very best rugby on the foundation of a points advantage, and as ever it was fantastic to watch.

With a tally of four tries today, it’s clear that William likes this pitch; no doubt it’ll become his second home in years to come.

Big thanks to our fresh kitchen volunteers who were superb, and to the coaches for handling the pre-match adversity, especially Morgy who went on to patiently reff 24 very vocal players.

Squad:
Brad, Christian, Eli, Harry, Henry, Jacob, Joe, Joss, Kyle, Louis, Luca, Mack, Sam, Tom, William.

Man of the Match Kyle

Tries:

William 4
Kyle 1
Joss 1
Sam 1

Goals
Harry 5