Victory in the mud

With Wigan arriving with 13 men and other home players dropping out at the last minute it was not the best preparation manager Jefferson had wished for. With plenty of heavy overnight rain the pitch soon resembled something more like Glastonbury than Fleetwood, it was tough going for both sides and the ball was being spilled at regular intervals. The home pack dominated the set piece, the front 3 of Foden, Gregson and Jackson providing plenty of 'beef' in the scrummage. Stand in scrum half Howe was bossing his forwards whilst fly half McNish was pulling the strings at fly half providing centres Orry and Seymour with plenty of ball to charge forward with. The first try came after winger Birks broke down the wing beating a few players before the supporting Orry picked up a stray pass to blast over and score, 5-0 up. By now Fleet were breaking forward at intervals, No. 8 Buzza was leading the charge with flankers Donoghue and Atkin always on hand. Following great work from the second row pairing of Holme and Holden around the ruck area, McNish set Seymour away just inside his own half, he sprinted through the mud handing off and dodging the opposition to score a quality individual try, 10-0 to the good. No further scores were registered, end of the first half.

If Wigan had come to roll over and accept defeat then the Green and Golds had to think again, their fly half had brought his dancing boots, he waltzed through the slippery defence virtually untouched to score making it 10-5. By now the scrums had become uncontested so Fleet were reliant on the forwards to utilise the rolling maul, on one such occasion Howe secured the ball, he flipped it to McNish who then provided Haigh with a tasty pass on the burst to slide over the whitewash, 15-5 up. This was quickly followed up by yet another attack, McNish dummying his way across the line to score, Jackson adding the extras, 22-5 in front. Although down the pie men were not out, they valiantly battled through the mud to find a score, which the duly did when one of the props crashed through from 5 yards, 22-10. No further action to note, the referee blew for time.

Overall, despite the conditions Fleet deserved their win as it was a great team effort as the forwards created a solid platform for the backs to operate. The match sponsors identified McNish as man of the match, however there were probably another 10 or so players who could have received the nomination.

A tough test awaits next week when high flying Southport visit Melbourne Avenue, Fleet looking to avenge the defeat from earlier in the season.

Report by Dan Jefferson