Rugby: Wilmslow High lift the Cheshire Cup

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In life, to achieve your goals you have to work hard and with this, you will succeed. For Wilmslow, this statement sums up a roller coaster of a season which has been capped off with a fantastic Cheshire Cup Final victory over Lymm High School.

'The final episode' were the words used by manager Roger Hancock before the game, to make a statement and return back to Wilmslow High School with some silverware to support what has been a remarkable season for them - during which they have played 20, won 19 and lost 1.

That lost game was obviously seen by the Wilmslow players as a disappointment as it was their defeat in the Daily Mail Cup Semi-Final v Whitgift, but at the same time it seemed to spur them on to win the Cheshire Cup.

The Wilmslow side knew the task which faced them wasn't going to be straight forward. Lymm have been a thorn in Wilmslow's side over the past few years and played extremely well when the sides clashed in October.

The task for Wilmslow was made slightly more difficult with the injury to Tom Fantom, requiring a reshaping of the front row. Callum Hubbard stepped in alongside the valiant Max Harvey and with the backs all in sync with each other, Wilmslow got off to an electric start.

Olly McCall read the game exceptionally well all evening and this was how Wilmslow's first try was created. He intercepted the ball and darted forward to find the lively Tom Hudson who wriggled his way past a couple of defenders to gain more ground.

With pick and go's from captain Toby Rowe followed closely by the strength of Dan Thomas, Sam Rodman, Callum Hubbard and Harvey, the ball broke to Sean Street who with a trademark accurate pass found McCall. He flicked it to Sam James who raced away to the corner. In the process Harvey picked up a huge hit to the eye, but continued to see McCall kick the conversion for Wilmslow to go 7-0 up.

Oskar Hirskyji-Douglas played his usual pivotal role with a break of his own from the restart and with Hudson looking very deadly, finding space where no-one else could, it looked as if Wilmslow were going to bulldoze their way over Lymm.

This was followed by an iffy moment for McCall as he missed a penalty, but nevertheless Wilmslow continued to look ruthless. Lymm were being pulled apart by the flexible Wilmslow back play and their discipline slipped as they gave McCall a presentable penalty chance which he kicked 13 minutes in.

After this Wilmslow switched off and allowed their opponents to get a foothold in the final for the first real time. They missed two penalties which were vital as the game wore on, but the respite for Wilmslow was short lived, they had to perform some last ditch defending before finally cracking just before half-time to allow Lymm to get on the board.

Lymm looked like they were still in the changing room for the opening 30 minutes, but came to life as a break down the left caught the Wilmslow defence out and the 5 points were only saved after a superb try saving tackle from Sean Street.

The pressure was relieved for a short spell with another interception from McCall as he offloaded the ball to Jafarian, but was halted on the half way line. With the ball back in the possession of Lymm their speedy attack allowed a calm grubber kick to be poked past the on-rushing Wilmslow defence to see Lymm score their try.

Wilmslow had more issues to deal with as Toby Rowe was taken off injured, replaced by Sam Broster.

Wilmslow came out of the blocks the quickest in the second half. McCall produced a delicate kick forward in the opening exchanges which sent the Lymm full back into panic mode as serious pressure was mounted by Wilmslow. You could sense the try was coming, as could Matt Bebbington who continued to encourage his players throughout the game.

An excellent catch by Hudson, from a kick hoisted up by Lymm, saw him canter forward to Jafarian on the left who set the perfect platform with the offload for Ethan Harding to touch the ball down. Broster produced a storming break down the right just before this, but he was only denied a try for a few minutes as a dummy from the magical McCall allowed the under 15 Daily Mail Cup winner to side step his way through the defence to score with ease.

The extras were added by McCall, but Lymm still had fight left in them. A huge gap emerged in the Wilmslow defence as they galloped through to score and set the stage for a grandstand finale in the last 15 minutes. However, Wilmslow immediately increased the gap, in terms of both the score and quality of play, as a break from Max Harvey allowed Sam James to punish the opponents further.

Wilmslow continued to have the lion-share of possession and the fighting spirit. The fresh legs of the replacements were needed in the final passages of play as Wilmslow's never say die attitude saw them go from defence into attack. A break from James ended with a jinking run from Olly McCall who rounded off a marvellous season for him and for Wilmslow.

Wilmslow thoroughly deserved to lift the Cheshire Cup based on their performance in this final as well as throughout the season. This has been the finest season that Wilmslow High 1st XV rugby has ever had, the squad of players who have graced rugby fields up and down the country since September and put in 100% into every single game have played 20, won 19 and lost 1 - which will go down in Wilmslow High's rugby history book.

Wilmslow: T Hudson, T Rowe (capt), E Harding, S James, S Jafarian, O McCall, S Street, C Hubbard, M Harvey, S Rodman, O Lee, D Thomas, L Tyrell, S Klein, O-H Douglas Replacements: S Royle, T Watts, B Jones, S Marsh, S J Chapell, S Broster, A Walker.

Final score : Wilmslow High School 34, Lymm High School 12.

Wilmslow tries: James 2, Harding, Broster McCall. Cons: McCall 3. Pen: McCall

Half-time: 10-5.

This match report is a guest post by Chris Heal, Wilmslow High School.

Tags:
Rugby, Wilmslow High School
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