Burnage v's Hoylake - Match report

Burnage 39
Hoylake 22

Another disrupted build up to the match meant that Hoylake travelled to league leaders, Burnage, with a squad of just 15 players. Three of which arrived at the ground just 20 minutes before kick off.

This typified the second half of Hoylake’s season with late cry offs and not enough people making themselves available for 1st XV selection.

The frustrating part of it all was that Hoylake competed for large portions of the match and had it not been for the pre-match disruption, 2 sin binnings and Hoylake's inability to adapt to the referee’s interpretation of the laws surrounding the ruck area, the visitors could have pushed the already promoted Burnage all the way.

As it was, a 10 minute period in the second half saw Burnage cut loose and build up a 39-5 advantage. However, with a full compliment of players on the pitch, Hoylake continued to battle and scored 3 excellent tries in the final stages of the match, which gave the final score a much fairer reflection.

Hoylake's tries were scored by Jack Collister, Steve Young, Matt McCLaren and seasoned campaigner, Dan Baldock. Young added a conversion.

There were some fine performances on the day, notably from 2nd team regulars Joe Lavin, Jason Pell and Ian Stevenson.

Hoylake can take heart from this performance as they look forward to a well-earned summer break. With a bit more luck with injuries and continuity in selection, there is no reason why they can’t become a top 4 club in the division next season.