South Lancs & Cheshire Division 1
Dukinfield 17 Sale F.C. 26
Sale managed to win this error-strewn and bad tempered match with occasional flashes
of decent rugby within an otherwise torrid performance.
Dukinfield started at a furious pace but we took the lead with an early Mike Raikes penalty before the hosts continued their dominance of possession missing out on two penalty kicks which should have given them the advantage.
On the half hour we moved the ball deep into the home “22” and Simon Ensor went close before Jack Moorhouse broke the home defence to touch down and Raikes added the conversion for a 10-0 lead.
The hosts came back strongly scoring a try from short range, well converted from wide out, before Raikes kicked a second penalty just before half time to put Sale ahead 13-7 at the break.
We started the second half well by securing possession from the restart and a fine solo run from Tom Lucas saw the full back touch down and Raikes added the extras for a 20-7 lead.
Dukinfield responded with vigour and narrowed the gap to just six points with a tap penalty in midfield catching us off-guard, and finishing off the move with a converted try.
Mike Raikes and the home kicker exchanged penalties but matters, which had been simmering all afternoon, suddenly boiled over when a Dukinfield player was yellow carded for a late tackle. Three minutes later, a retaliatory punch from a second home player resulted in a mass brawl, with a yellow card for captain Jack Moorhouse, and a red card for the Dukinfield back row, and a bloodied nose for Blanny from the home scrum half!
Mike Raikes kicked the resultant penalty to put us two scores clear but the final quarter of the game continued in a fractious manner until the referee thankfully blew the final whistle.
Neil Thallon