South Lancs & Cheshire Division 1
Sale F.C. 50 Wigan 17
Sale ensured a winning start on the opening day of the new season in South Lancs. & Ches. Division 1 with an eight-try demolition of the Lancastrians.
It was almost the perfect start as the Wigan kick off was secured by newcomer Tom Hughes who kicked ahead into open territory and just failed to beat the visitors full back to the touchdown. Sale kept play in the Wigan “22” with some fine handling and on three minutes fly-half Mike Raikes sped through a gap in the defence to score the opening try and add the conversion for a 7-0 lead.
Wigan responded strongly using their pack to good effect and with Sale giving away a number of needless penalties their attacking opportunities were restricted until midway through the half. Sale secured a Wigan scrum and half back Carwyn Williams caused confusion in the visitors’ defence with a neat chip down the left and winger Chris Lillie was just beaten by the bounce of the ball to pick up and score.
The home side maintained the momentum and doubled their lead on 25 minutes when slick footwork and handling by the backs created a gap for Lillie to race under the posts for a try, converted by Raikes. Sale extended their lead to 19 points when second row Pat Wilson secured possession at a line out in the Wigan “22” and a forward drive ended with Andrew Baston touching down for an unconverted try.
In the final minute of the half after a spell of Wigan pressure prop Tom Hampson barged over from short range for the visitors to narrow the gap at the break to 19-5.
Sale couldn’t have had a better start to the second half as a flowing move in the first minute ended with Lillie racing in from 55 metres for an unconverted try. The home side now tended to dominated affairs as first Baston touched down for his second try of the day, and then a fine move by Sale after some Wigan pressure, saw replacement scrum half Holloway make an excellent break down the right and put in a perfect cross-field kick for Tom Lucas to collect and score under the posts and Raikes added the extras for a 36-5 lead.
On the hour, further pressure saw captain Jack Moorhouse dart through a gap in the home defences to touch down with Raikes again adding the conversion, and Sale were well out of sight.
Wigan never gave up and scored a second try from Killian Wallace with ten minutes remaining, before Sale responded once more with fine handling and running from the backs to release Tom Lucas to touch down for his second try of the day, and with the conversion from Raikes the home side had reached the half century.
The visitors’ completed the scoring when good work from Peacock saw the Wigan No. 10 touch down and captain Andy Whittle converted from wide out.
Newcomers Tom Hughes and Pat Wilson had solid performances with Hughes strengthening the front row, and Wilson securing more than his share of Wigan ball at the line out
Coach John Aby was naturally pleased with the result and particularly in aspects of the management of the game itself, and whilst there were still occasional lapses these will be addressed in the coming weeks.
Neil Thallon