Hoylake v's Vagabonds - Match Report

Hoylake 47
Vagabonds 17

Hoylake ended up convincing winners in this South Lancs/Cheshire 1, mid-table clash, but after half an hour, they were facing a twelve point deficit as their Manx visitors completely outplayed them.

The hosts fielded an almost full strength side but too many basic errors and penalties conceded gave Vagabonds the edge in the opening exchanges. Eventually, their superior forward play resulted in two tries and a conversion without reply from the hosts.

Eventually though, Hoylake’s forwards started to fire. Barnstorming runs by Jack Collister and Phil James after a lineout steal by Tom Corkhill eventually resulted in a try by centre Chris Whiteley. Steve Young added the extras. Just two minutes before half time, Matt O’Hanlon got on the end of another overlap to give the hosts parity going into half time.

With a slight breeze at their backs, Hoylake started the brighter in the second period. It wasn’t long before Whitely crashed over for his second after Steve Young had spotted him in space from a quickly taken free kick. Young converted to give Hoylake a 19-12 lead.

To their credit, Vagabonds came back again at their opponents and eventually their backs isolated one of Hoylake’s big forwards and their centre easily rounded the attempted tackle to score in the corner. The conversion rebounded of the cross bar to leave the hosts with a meagre two point advantage.

With half an hour remaining, Hoylake stopped conceding penalties and began to look dangerous out wide. Another try from young back rower, O’Hanlon, gave the hosts breathing space before Richard Young spotted a gap down the blind side following a ruck and galloped home from 40 yards.

Vagabonds were beginning to tire and Stephen Young was quick to recognise the vast amount of space on the wings. Two perfectly executed cross field kicks resulted in tries for his brother Richard who completed his brace and veteran winger Dan Baldock who rounded off a strong performance with a well deserved try.

Stephen Young enjoyed a good day with the boot, hitting 6 out of 7 conversions as the hosts ran out comfortable winners. Man of the Match went to Whiteley who was strong in attack and disruptive in defence. He was closely followed by back row dynamo Guy Byatt and the Young brothers who were influential in turning round their team’s fortunes.

Hoylake’s new coaching team were well pleased with the result but realised that against more ruthless opposition, Hoylake’s slow, undisciplined start could have been more harshly punished. However, it was good to see Hoylake score 7 tries and play some free flowing rugby against what is traditionally a difficult team to beat.