Anselmians outmanoeuvre Wirral in derby

Oct 10 2012 by Our Correspondent, Birkenhead News

Anselmians 23

Wirral 19

IN THIS tense derby match at Eastham it was Anselmians who out manoeuvred a young Wirral side with their own brand of one up rugby.

Anselmians took the lead with an early Simon Mason penalty before Wirral hit back with a Sam Broadbent try duly converted by captain Craig Harvey, having not taken their earlier opportunities.

A further Mason penalty reduced the arrears to 6-7.

Wirral stretched their lead after a quickly taken penalty some 55m out saw Ryan Stead make much progress before putting Ross Page clear to score near the posts, which Harvey converted.

Following a lengthy injury break, Anselmians caught Wirral napping with a well executed move down the blindside which saw Ollie Whorton crossing in the corner leaving the half time score in favour of Wirral at 11-14.

The second half saw Anselmians with a greater share of possession and with the benefit of the slope and using their forwards to greater effect by pick up and driving on, gaining much ground.

This led them to score two tries through their forwards, one converted through this method.

Thereafter Wirral were left to force the issue with long adventurous passes in the hope of getting their backs moving but to no effect.

However in the last two minutes, Wirral made a break from 75m out through Harvey, who drew the full back before putting brother Danny free to run in from 45m out, although the conversion was missed.

The last minute saw further Wirral pressure but again the final pass did not go to hand and Anselmians ran out 23-19 winners.