Injury to James Edwardes sours Hoylake victory

Wigan 18
Hoylake 26

Hoylake�s good run of form continued away to struggling Wigan, but the victory was overshadowed by a horror injury to 19 year old second row James Edwards.

The visitors put a late arrival behind them as they raced into a 10 nil lead. Flyhalf Stephen Young taking advantage of the home side�s mistakes to strike a penalty, then score a try which he converted. Wigan came back with a penalty of their own before pacey winger Matt McClaren took advantage of a superb cross field kick by Young to touch down in the corner. Another penalty by the Wigan outside half was followed by a close range try from Hoylake�s veteran centre, Richard Young. He bundled his way over after good work from flanker Jason Pell.

With half time fast approaching, Stephen Young converted another penalty giving Hoylake a seemingly unassailable 23-6 lead. However, within the space of a few minutes, Prop Matt O�Neill had to be replaced by Phil James because of a recurring neck problem and James Edwards went down in considerable pain after a heavy two man tackle. It later transpired that he has dislocated his pelvis which will mean a long road to recovery for the promising young player. The referee appropriately blew his whistle for half time as Edwards was stretchered from the pitch.

Having only travelled with two substitutes, utility back Dave Cuthill came on as replacement with centre Chris Whiteley moving to the back row.

The disruption meant that the second period was largely dominated by the home side. They managed two tries and a conversion without reply and Hoylake were suddenly looking nervous with the scores at 23-18. However, the visitors managed to regain some control, with prop Jack Collister again impressive in the loose. Wigan were becoming impatient for possession and with time ebbing away, they ended up losing 2 players to the sin bin for repeat offences at the breakdown. With the numerical advantage, the visitors pushed for the winning score which was eventually taken via the boot of Stephen Young, following yet another infringement from Wigan.

Man of the match went to 19 year old fullback Mike Kearney who was solid in defence and threatening in attack. Next week, Hoylake will be hoping to stretch their winning run to five games when they entertain Wigton in the 3rd round of the EDF Energy Senior Vase.