Warrington Vets 22 Moore Select 12

On the bleakest of winter days the brutal weather couldn’t deter players and spectators alike from arriving on mass to witness a festive feast of rugby from players, past and present.

The Gentlemen of Moore step in at the eleventh hour to ensure a game would be played so a huge thank you to them, with the late notice they arrived needing a few and in true rugby spirit lads stepped up to even the sides, Warrington Vets Turner, Morgan, Yeadon & Stevenson all pulled on the Moore jersey and gave a decent account of themselves. Rocky Turner, in particular, was a thorn in the Warrington side all game, although it pains me to say it.

It was apparent from the start that the conditions were going to play a huge part as cold fingers and a slippery ball meant there were one or two knock-ons. After the first 10 minutes of play things started to tidy up, some probing darts from the Warrington scrum half Dave Nichols, former captain Neil Sullivan showing he still has a 1 yard of pace from the base of the scrum all showed that the game was there to be won. It wasn’t till the 23rd minute when a defensive line out on the Warrington 22, with Wheatley chucking in the ball sailed into the hands of Harry Kellett, the ball was then dispatched to the back line where some intricate, convoluted tomfoolery from Drinkwater and Millington released Josh Little from the unfamiliar position of full back, Josh scythed through the gap to stretch his legs to scorch home from 50 yards. We won’t talk about dinky conversion attempt. 5-0

The next score was all about the old adage forwards do all the work, the backs get all the glory, after some terrific drives and ball retention, Warrington were in the centre of the park 10 metres off the line, then in a flash the ball found its way to Millington, who powered over. The try was unconverted to make the score 10-0.

Moore struck back almost instantly with a great breakaway try in the corner. The conversion was made, albeit with the help of the crossbar, to make the score 10-7 at half time.
The second half started very much as the first ended, with some strong play from Moore which kept Warrington in their 22, some resolute defence, some strong carries from Peter “37 degrees on Cambodia” Holce, and some pressure-relieving kicks from the educated boot of Matty Drinkwater. After the initial onslaughts from Moore, Warrington found themselves inside the Moore 22 and, from the line out Harry Kellett popped up on the short side to outpace the defence and stride over untouched, to give Warrington a 15-7 lead.

With the light and bodies fading rapidly, Warrington started to lose players. Firstly it was Chris Sterling with his knee, then Stu Beeley limped off holding his hamstring. All this made the last quarter of the game a little disjointed but despite that there were more tries from this game, the first for Moore after a speculative kick down field the foot race was won by the Moore stand off.

The final score was one of the best team tries of the day. Phase after phase, Warrington steadily made progress up field then, after a probing dart and some sublime interplay in the backs, the ball found its way back into Matt Drinkwater’s hands and the 22 yards left to the line seemed to be too far when the Moore number 10 caught up with him just short of the line only for Drinkwater to demonstrate the handoff of his career and stride over to score. The conversion, finally a kick was made the final score 22-12 and the teams played out the last few minutes before sprinting to the sheds to defrost.

A great thing to see some old mates players back and a special mention goes to the referee today Andy Kellett, and despite reffing without a watch and not knowing the score for most of the game, his contribution was immeasurable.