On Saturday (03/10/15) Holmes Chapel (blue and yellow) faced Whitchurch 3rd XV (red and white) in what would be one of their toughest tests of recent years. Holmes Chapel arrived in Shropshire on the back of a strong home win against Linley and Kidsgrove. Whitchurch had not been quite as successful as their opponents in recent weeks but had put some good performances in against Linley and Trafford Metrovick.

The first half of the game was contested strongly in the forwards and the home team were very strong in the scrum and quick to rucks and mauls. When the ball did come out to the back line; fly half Mike Lightfoot and centres Jack Baskerville and Joe Maddock were closed down very quickly by their opposite numbers. Scrum half Jack Cottam broke this trend and got Chapel ahead with some good solo work to put his team ahead. Whitchurch retaliated with a well worked backs move in which their winger cut inside to take a pop from his fly half and moved through the nine-ten channel to even the score. A similar move moments later allowed Whitchurch to pull ahead, this time a Whitchurch flanker was the scorer. Holmes Chapel kept on the pressure but missed tackles and lack of support was letting them down. The team in red scored again and converted to leave the half time score standing at 21-5 to Whitchurch.

In the second half a different Chapel side seemingly came out even though few changes had been made. Their attitude and application had improved and the game transformed into a genuine contest. Tries from Callum Grant-Smith and the experienced Jon Griffin brought Chapel close to levelling the game but they ran out of time and Whitchurch scored a further converted try and a penalty to put the match out of the reach of the recently promoted side. In the final moments Chapel were playing for pride and kept the ball in play for a good five minutes after the clock had run down. The ball was looped out wide and knocked on by a blue and gold winger to end the game. Final score Whitchurch 3rd XV 31-20 Holmes Chapel 1st XV. Holmes Chapel would like to thank their sponsors (see website for details) and also Whitchurch for a really enjoyable and tough game.

Holmes Chapel Squad V Whitchurch 03/10/15
1. Conor Gavin
2. Neil Almond
3. Ed Chappell
4. Dan Martin (c)
5. Mark McEnaney
6. Joe Foulkes
7. Callum Grant-Smith
8. Jon Griffin
9. Jack Cottam
10. Mike Lightfoot
11. Nathan Stewart
12. Jack Baskerville
13. Joe Maddock
14. Ali Lightfoot
15. Gavin Paton
Substitutes
16. Tom Emerson
17. Rob Moore