Winning Start To The New Year

The game started at a frantic pace with both sides struggling to take control of possession and territory. It was the home side who had the lion’s share of possession in the first 10 minutes, with Chapel losing a few of their own possession around the ruck due to rustiness. The lads reacted well and upped the physicality in the ruck and tackle areas. This gave them a foothold in the game. The pressure led to a penalty which was slotted nicely by winger Joe Baskerville. Straight from the kick off, lock Mark McEnaney caught the ball and distributed well, two passes later flanker Tom Chambers found some space and made a 40 yard break to score the first try of the afternoon, converted by Joe Baskerville. Chapel kept the pressure up and a half break got the defence back pedalling. Some superb clear out work from lock Dan Martin meant the boys in blue retained the ball, and this meant the backs had broken field to run at which they exploited well with Jim Moss finishing the move nicely under the posts. The home side came back into the game with some strong running from their centres, really testing the Chapel defence. Young hooker; Sam Cook put an end to one of these strong runs with an excellent tackle which led to a turnover. A lovely counter attacking move from chapel started by prop rob Moore, went through numerous hands and was eventually scored by full back Bob Hamilton. The half ended 22-0 to the away side.

Shortly into the second half Chapel made all 4 of their subs with number 8 Dan Partington, prop Will Mitchell, flanker Paddy Murphy and winger Harry Snape all coming on. Chapel looked sharp on the ball and soon added another try through flanker Tom Chambers, he was able to profit from some excellent power work from the pack who had picked and gone numerous times just yards from the try line. Ill- discipline started to creep in and the penalty count rose quickly. This allowed the home side to get back into the game. A lovely chip through from their 9 led to a race for the line which was won by the Wirral winger. They responded quickly too with another try from a Chapel penalty. Chapel’s discipline issues meant they were finding it hard to exit, despite some excellent territorial kicking from fly half Michael Lightfoot. When Chapel weren't giving away penalties they looked good on the ball. A nice lineout move allowed Tom Chambers to crash through for his hat trick. Wirral again responded with their own try, taking their tally up to 15 points. With 5 minutes to go, Chapel weren't done yet. Some nice work around the ruck allowed substitute flanker Paddy Murphy to power over for his first try for the club. A minute later some excellent work from winger Harry Snape put Jim Moss in some space, he was able to beat a couple of defenders before teeing up Tom Chambers for his 4th try and easiest of the afternoon. Final score 15-44.

A very good performance after a couple of weeks off, slightly tarnished by the ill- discipline. Chapel looked ruthless in attack and solid defensively. Man of the Match went to Tom Chambers who scored 4 tries.

Chapel would like to thank Wirral for a tough game and wish them luck for the rest of the season.