After a healthy break of turkey, stuffing and the occasional game of pool or darts the boys in blue were raring to go this Saturday for the first home game of the year against Trafford Metrovicks. Conditions were far from ideal and Chapel knew that it was going to be a tough day at the office. But as seems to be a pattern this season a very strong and talented squad of 24 turned up for the fixture at Station Road and the talent both on the pitch and on the bench bodes very well for the clubs future.
As the first half got underway the rain and mud saw both sides dropping ball and failing to really complete any of the set moves. Trafford forwards started strong and carried some strong, close attacks but experienced Jon Griffin and young (and slightly more agile) Joe Foulkes kept the Trafford attack at bay. 15 minutes into the game saw two early red cards for the opposition captain and Holmes Chapel try addict Jed Wragg. Luckily the return of Jim Moss to the centres and also strong wing defence kept the game close. It was not a good day to be a captain as Chapel skipper Dom Moss earned himself sometime in the sin bin for excessive use of the boot. With the boys in blue down the 13 men Trafford started to push forward and after a lengthy string of attacks they managed to break free on the wing for a try. However the visitors failed to convert when cheeky second row Mark McEnaney charged the kick and managed to boot it off the tee before the Trafford kicker could get to it, which the chapel boys took as a bizarre but inspiring spectacle. The rest of the first half saw the home side concede a penalty but managed, through hard work, especially from Dom Moss and Housewife Hunter Rob Moore to redeem themselves by forcing the errors in Trafford’s half and Andy Davis managed to slot a couple of penalties over (after a few practise attempts which saw him spending more time playing in the mud than kicking the ball). With this the score at half time was 8–6 to the visitors.

After some constructive criticism during the break the home side came out all pistons firing and managed to sure up the break down, this gave skilled scrum half Andy Davis the platform he had needed to open up the game for the Chapel backline. Scrappy Jack Cottam showed composure beyond his years to feed the ball to Gav Paton and the rest of the backline to mount a series of threatening attacks. Due to the conditions many possible scoring opportunities fell short but never a side to sit comfortably behind on the score board the boys in blue soldiered on and found themselves happily camped on the opposition 5 metre line. Some great support work and the keen eyes of Andy Davis and Jack Cottam saw the latter cross the white wash for the opening score of the second half. This only proved to spur on the chapel boys and despite some admirable defence especially at the rucks and around the break down area from the visitors Chapel managed to open up the gap further with more tries from Jack Cottam and Callum Grant-Smith. A penalty deep in the visitors half resulted in the Trafford receiving another red and now found themselves down to 13 men. The home side refused to ease up the pressure and more scores came through with some excellent work in terrible conditions from returning shower king Jack Baskerville as well as the rest of the Chapel forwards. This kept the pressure on and the lead firmly intact. Trafford to their merit did look very threatening at points with some great running in the centres but some big hits from Tom Chambers and Ian Lightfoot kept any chances of scoring hypothetical. As the clock ran down the conditions caused many errors and the game closed with a score of 28-8 to the home side.
It was undoubtedly a tough game and Trafford really showed some of the Chapel weaknesses at the breakdown but it is a testament to the strength and composure of the Station Road lads that they managed to rectify these mistakes and take a hard fought but decisive victory.