Word had reached Eastham that Winnington Park had a depleted squad due to a prior engagement but they managed to push their hosts and put up a competitive display.
Saints are fully aware that every game remaining in this seasons league campaign is a cup final if they are to reach their season’s ambition of reaching level 5 of the RFU pyramid.
On a perfect day for rugby with a firm dry pitch and no wind, Saints welcomed Winnington Park.
It took eight minutes for Saints to break down the Park defence. Andy Cummings fielded a deep Park kick looking to gain territory. He beat two defenders before feeding Ewan Nolan who crossed near the posts. Dai added two and Saints lead 7-0.
It was obvious from the off that Park were determined to prove their credentials against the league leaders and on 14 minutes they served notice on their hosts to score an unconverted try 7-5.
Saints had now begun to stretch their opponents. On 18 minutes, Joe Spencer ran a direct line into the Park defence before offloading to an ever-eager Sam Gregory who crossed to bring the score to 14-5.
Now into their groove, Saints began to control the game and on 24 minutes elected to kick a penalty into the corner for their trusted lineout to pay dividends. A catch and drive later saw Dan Salisbury cross with a successful conversion to bring up 21-5 .
At 27 minutes in, Joel Ashton got on the end of a flowing move where a miss match was exploited out wide to cross in the left corner and bring up the bonus point 26-5.
On 31 minutes, Joel went in under the posts for his second of the day following a well-worked move from an attacking scrum position 33-5.
Saints, now in full flow and enjoying excellent first phase ball from lineout and scrum, began to stretch Park and on 35 mins Saints teenage wing speedster went in for his second hat-trick in as many weeks and secured the bonus point 38-5.
It’s been a tough time off the pitch for Joel and his Dad Bob recently and the Anselmian family are firmly behind them both. Joel has an exciting future within the game.
As the half drew to a close, Dai fashioned one of his trademark breaks that saw him cross under the posts and add the extras to bring the half time score up to 45-7.
The half time chat was all about maintaining momentum. Saints struggled to maintain the same ambition in the second half and Winnington managed to demonstrate how determined they are and in fact how they are more than capable of sustaining their position at this level.
Park managed an excellent try through their hooker who showed blistering pace to cross untouched early in the half and bring the score to 45-12.
Not much happened after this apart from a couple of yellow cards, a fall, and a couple of submissions until on 77 minutes James O crashed over late on and Saints managed to convert to bring up the final score 52-12.
Saints have five games left of their league campaign and given the chasing pack’s form, nothing other than 100% victories will do.
| # | Team | P | W | D | L | PF | PA | +/- | TB | LB | Pts |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Anselmians | 17 | 15 | 0 | 2 | 623 | 231 | 392 | 15 | 2 | 77 |
| 2 | Bowdon | 17 | 14 | 0 | 3 | 575 | 383 | 192 | 13 | 0 | 69 |
| 3 | Rochdale | 16 | 12 | 0 | 4 | 461 | 271 | 190 | 11 | 3 | 62 |
| 4 | Birkenhead Park | 16 | 12 | 0 | 4 | 543 | 300 | 243 | 11 | 2 | 61 |
| 5 | Firwood Waterloo | 17 | 11 | 0 | 6 | 531 | 353 | 178 | 10 | 3 | 57 |
| 6 | Glossop | 16 | 7 | 0 | 9 | 367 | 478 | -111 | 5 | 3 | 36 |
| 7 | Altrincham Kersal | 16 | 6 | 0 | 10 | 324 | 385 | -61 | 8 | 4 | 36 |
| 8 | Vale of Lune | 16 | 7 | 0 | 9 | 321 | 427 | -106 | 5 | 1 | 34 |
| 9 | Winnington Park | 17 | 4 | 0 | 13 | 381 | 608 | -227 | 4 | 4 | 24 |
| 10 | Douglas (I.O.M.) | 17 | 4 | 0 | 13 | 307 | 501 | -194 | 3 | 3 | 22 |
| 11 | Broughton Park | 15 | 3 | 0 | 12 | 251 | 524 | -273 | 2 | 2 | 16 |
| 12 | Wilmslow | 16 | 3 | 0 | 13 | 270 | 493 | -223 | 2 | 1 | 15 |
Anselmians
15 Andrew Cummings
14 Joel Ashton
13 Joseph Spencer
12 Ransford Otutaha
11 Adam Bramhall
10 David Morley
9 Liam Sadler
1 Kostja Vezanovs
2 Daniel Salisbury
3 Derek Salisbury
4 Jack Richards
5 Fred Clark
6 Ewan Nolan
7 Samuel Gregory
8 William Grabe
Anselmians Subs
S1 John Boundy
S2 Robert O’Donnell
S3 William Sass
Winnington Park
15 Chris Twigg
14 Joe Lowe
13 Jack Johnson
12 William Morrillo
11 Liam Geary
10 Lee Allmark
9 Charlie Smith
1 Ross Morrin
2 Justin Oles
3 Bruce McGrogan
4 Ben Cann
5 Jake Cornwell
6 Evan Boucher
7 Jack England
8 Daniel Williams
Winnington Park Subs
S1 Gregor Purves
S2 Aiden Flanagan
S3 Nathaniel Bradbury
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