Geraint Morris recounts a well earned draw for the third team.
With the MGS lads in contractual negotiations with Steve Swindells, it was up to the usual suspects and a now ex 4th teamer to face up to opposition who had previously beaten us at their place.
With some confusion to who was to ref what, where and when, we started with Alex Sherwood at tighthead and Joel on the bench. With our referee speaking the Queen’s English as it was meant to be, there was some confusion as to what he meant by “hands orf”.
With the game under way Burnage struggled to retain possession against a strong Bowdon pack and found the weight in the Bowdon scrum difficult to deal with. Bowdon forced a scrum inside the Burnage 22 and stood their big 12 in the captain’s channel. Bowdon 5 Burnage 0 with an easy conversion to come.
Burnage soon found themselves in the opposition 22 and it was time for the backs to once again open their extensive moves locker. 10, 12 and 13 executed a perfect rangy and the opposition were at sixes and sevens as Shaun scored under the posts. Matt Barrett slotted the extra 2 to tie the score at 7 apiece.
Both sides had opportunities to score after that. Aled made countless breaks from full back and Big Jack thought he had crossed for a score. Chris Buckley chased back to deny Bowdon an almost certain try after their 15 broke the line. Neither side could break the deadlock and the game ended in another draw for the thirds. Other results on the day went in our favour and we now find ourselves clear of the relegation zone.
Man of the match goes to Aled for a fine display at fullback. Apologies to Chris Morley who didn’t get on in a tight fixture.