Sale (u14) - 33 - 12 - Marple (u14)

Marple travelled to Sale on a very autumnal morning with both wind and rain giving the lads – and particularly the kickers – plenty to think deal with, as well as a good Sale side; the fifth of a series of tough opposition to start the season.

The opening featured a good tactical kicking battle, with Eric and Felix following up Isaac B’s kicks well to give Sale plenty to think about. The first half was a war of attrition, with both sides battling for territory and possession as the ball was difficult to hold. Marple’s defensive line appeared to have improved but the difficulty in mounting an attack through transition led to a number of scrums being well contested. Sale began to get on top, probing left and right round the Marple defence but were met with resilience, until the Sale openside found a clean gap with a hard line to score under the posts. Sale’s inside centre kicked well all day and made no mistake from the tee to put the home side 7-0 ahead.
The same pattern of play followed with Marple looking dangerous and adding territory to their possession, but conditions perhaps played a part in their inability to not quite set the backs free, and when they did, a good covering tackle unfortunately saw Felix leave the field of play with a knock. Finn M also suffered a knee injury in the first half, and the changes led to a gradual shift in pressure, allowing Sale to again find their flanker to score a similar try and go in at the interval 14-0 ahead.

In the second period, Marple had much the better of the opening ten minutes, spending most of that time in the Sale 22 and trying desperately to work an opening through the forwards. On four occasions last ditch defending stopped Marple dotting down after drives from Niall in particular, but in similar fashion to Macclesfield the previous week, when Sale turned over and cleared their lines the Marple backline struggled to cope, with only some last ditch tackling from Isaac B and a good break from Tyler keeping Sale out. Marple moved up the pitch, and this time after Sam fielded the Sale clearance and popped up to Eric, he ran a superb line through the gap to sprint a full 60m and score. Isaac B converted and Marple got back in contention at 14-7.
Sale applied pressure from the kick-off, and after a knock-on advantage presented them with the ball back, two quick phases and a Marple missed tackle allowed them to score in the corner clinically and extend the lead to 19-7, with Isaac B injured in the run up to the try.
With some disorganisation in the Marple ranks, Sale capitalised and in the last five minutes of the game scored two tries in quick succession to make the score 33-7, one a short range drive after some pressure and another a length of the field sprint clear of the Marple defence.
With time ticking away, Sale infringed at the lineout and Marple’s tap penalty allowed Finn to make a bulldozing run in from 45m, not to be denied and finishing the game with a score to bring the final tally to 33-12. Eric stepped up and while he was unlucky to snatch at his conversion attempt, he can be proud of a solid defensive display capped with an excellent try.

Another game slipped by for Marple with the competition much fiercer than the score-line suggested, but another good learning game and lots to be positive about.