After a long wait lasting over 4 years Holmes Chapel RUFC are pleased to be able to field a 2nd XV this season and their first game this Saturday was against Old Bedians in the Raging Bull North West Leagues.

Chapel started well with good solid tackles from Jim Bowbeer and Alex Gormley thwarting the initial attacks from the Bedians forwards. Two successive penalties saw Chapel enter into the Bedians half and some excellent line out work from Chapel helped Oli Lawrence brake through but he was stopped on the line by some good tackling by the covering Bedians defence.

Again some strong line out work by Holmes Chapel saw them steal the ball from Bedians and excellent hands had Captain Joe Maddock breaking through to score only to be pulled back for a forward pass.

From the resulting scrum the forwards won the ball and through strong running Joe again broke the defensive line and ran through to score the opening try of the game which he duly converted himself.

Bedians stepped it up a gear from the kick off and started to pass the ball well down the lines, with their forward and backs linking up to put several phases of good rugby together. Several times they were stopped by last ditch tackles by Ralph. Bedians sustained this pressure for some time and were rewarded with a well worked try which they converted.

The game was well balanced with both Chapel and Bedians threatening to take control.

A well worked move nearly saw Chapel score again as Harry Jeanes crashed through the Bedians defence off-loading well in the tackle (that’s the training paying off!) to Joe. Joe ran through the centres and released the ball to Nathan Stewart who drew the defence before passing to Ralph who was unfortunately tackled short of the line.

Half-time 7-7

The second half started with no real advantage to either side as the game became very stop start, however from no-where Chapel stole the ball in the lose and a break away by Joe saw him score his second try of the game which he again converted.

14-7 to Holmes Chapel and a combination of Bedians stepping up a gear and Chapel relaxing gave Bedians the momentum and they put Chapel under a period of pressure which duly paid off with an unconverted try.

Mixed play continued for Chapel with some strong scrummaging by Cameron, Cocky and Jim not being rewarded as play became scrappy. Bedians continued to press and started to play the territory game, placing Chapel on the back foot with some good position kicking. This put the pressure on Chapel again and Bedians took advantage of this to score a well worked try that they converted. Almost immediately from the kick off Chapel gave a way a penalty and Bedians put this over the posts to take a 22-14 lead.

From the restart Chapel put Bedians under pressure as they opened up play but they kept letting decisions affect their play and they became more and more frustrated. Several periods of play saw Chapel break the line only for the Bedians defences to hold firm on the line. This couldn’t be sustained as continued forward pressure prevailed as Jim Hamilton scored his first try which was converted.

With a minute left to play there was a nervy end for Bedians; however they held firm and recorded a very close victory 22-21.

Chapel would like to thank Bedians for an excellent game played in the right spirit that could have gone either way. Chapel will certainly look forward to the return fixture at the end of the season.