Hoylake 1st XV v's Glossop

Glossop 12
Hoylake 27

Hoylake secured an excellent victory on the road against Glossop who are always a difficult proposition when they play at home.

Hoylake travelled with an almost full strength squad, which showed straight from the kick off. The visitors raced into a 17-0 lead following a muscular try from centre Richard Young and a 50 metre sprint to the line from Matt McLaren. Skipper, Stephen Young, hit both conversions and then sweetly struck a 5o metre penalty goal to give Hoylake breathing space after just 15 minutes.

As is usually the way against Glossop, they made the most of a couple of Hoylake mistakes and when given territory and possession, their big forwards rarely come away without a score. Hoylake defended manfully for the remainder of the half, eventually succumbing to a penalty try when scrum half, Tom Selby-Milic, ventured offside to prevent an almost certain push over try. He was yellow carded for his efforts and the conversion was a simple one from under the sticks. Had Glossop scored again, they would have been very difficult to beat, but as it was, Hoylake made it to half time with a 10 point lead.

The second period followed a similar pattern as the first. Hoylake started the stronger. Steve Young landed another penalty before a fortuitous bounce from a Selby-Milic kick gave fullback Joe Lavin an unopposed sprint to the line to effectively secure the points for Hoylake.

As attention turned to the bonus point, the visitors became increasingly frustrated with their lack of possession and penalties followed. Glossop dominated the latter part of the fixtures and managed to squeeze over for a score in the final 10 minutes. The Hoylake backs did attempt to cut loose in the final exchanges but credit should go to Glossop, whose backline has improved its defence considerably from last season.

The final score was 27-12 to Hoylake and although disappointed with missing out on the bonus point, 4 points on the road against Glossop is no mean achievement.

Man of the match went to 2nd row Tom Corkhill, who put in a gritty performance in the loose, ably backed up by the rest of the forwards who battled hard against a heavier pack.

Next week, Hoylake have no fixture and will use the free weekend to recuperate before the challenging run in to Christmas.