North travelled to Marple last Saturday looking to maintain their position at the top of the league. North were without scrum-half Matthew Wallace, centre Dave Vickers, and flanker Lee Roberts but took a strong squad away as this was the clubs only game of the day.

The playing conditions were terrible and North’s display in the opening 30 minutes matched the weather. The game was littered with unforced errors as the ball was like a bar of soap in the wet conditions. North looked to play in their normal expansive style but a loose pass allowed the home centre to hack the ball towards the try-line. The Marple player dived on the ball under the posts and the referee awarded the try to give the home side the lead after 20 minutes. The home kicker added the easy conversion to make the score 7-0.

North continued to make mistakes and handling was becoming increasingly difficult as the hail-stones lashed down. North’s scrum was dominant and this meant Marple were unable to get any sustained possession as they were also finding the conditions difficult.

With 5 minutes to go in the half North were awarded a penalty 25 metres out. John Eady elected to take the kick despite the conditions and duly slotted the penalty over to make the score 7-3. This gave North extra confidence and No. 8 Chris Taylor scored an excellent try from a well-worked penalty move. John Eady converted and within the space of minutes North were now leading 10-7. North should have extended the lead with the last play of the half when they forced a scrum 5 metres from the Marple line but indiscipline in the North front-row allowed the home side to clear after being awarded the penalty.

Marple were a young, mobile side who will clearly be a greater force in the league next season and may well challenge for promotion, but their opponents today were too big and too strong for them to deal with. North captain Gary Pugh and flanker Kev Green were making large gains each time they touched the ball and the support play of Ian Thompson and Jay Malone was superb. A break from Green set up Chris Taylor for his and North’s second try of the afternoon. Green released Taylor close to the Marple line after a fine 30 metre run, and the No. 8 brushed past the remaining defenders to score under the posts. The conversion was a formality and North led 17-7.

Flanker Ian Thompson scored the next try after great work by North’s centre pairing, Dave Garvey and Chris Hyland. Garvey broke through the home defence with a powerful run before releasing Hyland who had run a devastating line which looked to have created him a try before he was stopped by a fine tackle 10 metres from the try-line. Thompson had typically supported the move and picked up to go over for the score in the corner. A difficult kick was missed but North’s lead was extended to 22-7.

North continued to pressure and wingers Aaron Duoba and Steve Donoghue were unlucky not to go over. North had a comfortable lead and the game seemed to be fizzling out until the introduction of prop Darren Seddon and backs Kyle Howard, Steve Atkinson and James Hyland breathed new life into North’s play. Marple managed to break out of defence after capitalising on a loose pass by the visitors. The home player only had full-back James Hyland to beat with the try-line begging but the youngster put in a magnificent tackle to stop the attack and prevent Marple from scoring. Winger Kyle Howard showed his potential for next season with a jinking run through the home defence to set up the next try. Quick ball allowed player-coach Andy Donley to feed prop Dave McCarrick who raced towards the line before passing out of the tackle to No. 8 Chris Taylor whose good handling allowed him to go over for a much-deserved hat-trick. John Eady converted and North led 29-7.

Hooker Luke Corrigan scored North’s final try of the afternoon from the base of a ruck set up by Jay Malone and Ian Thompson. The hooker spotted a gap and powered down the blindside with 3 defenders on his back to score in the corner. The conversion from the sideline was missed but North had overcome another tricky obstacle and won 34-7.

No 8. Chris Taylor was awarded the Hayneswood Engineering man of the match award after his hat-trick secured the win for North after a poor start.

Match Photo