Macclesfield Senior Colts returned to winning ways, racking up a half century of points against Vale of Lune Senior Colts. Harley Aston steered things well from number nine, building the foundation for scores out wide and earning Man of the Match in the process. The first home game of the season saw two hat tricks from Christian Taylor and Ben Foster, the other scores coming from wingers Lloyd Smith-Coates and Sam Bancroft, with arch poacher Charlie Davies scoring in his third game in a row.
Vale of Lune commanded territory and possession for the opening exchanges, missing a penalty shot at goal four minutes in. The momentum began to swing after Lloyd chased down a Harley box kick, catching the opposition fullback in possession. Another chip by Will G found space in the twenty two, which Vale nudged into touch for the lineout. Despite conceding possession at the lineout and following scrum, the back row put pressure on the fly half, such that his clearance kick bounced back into the in-goal area off his own posts. Fozzie used his height to get to the ball first to drop to the floor for the score. Ollie’s conversion was a formality.
Quick tap penalties from the half backs put pace on the game, enabling forwards and backs to combine to gain territory. George went on a storming run, whilst a chance went begging after Chris, Crossy and Ollie worked an overlap on the left. Another darting run by George moved the ball within five metres of the opposition line, Chris picking up from the resulting ruck to force his way over for his first score.
The Vale number 8 gets the opposition back in the game with an inside run off the back of a maul. Their optimism is short-lived as Ollie’s restart was plucked out of the opposition’s grasp by a leaping Lloyd, who then dodged two tackles to score in the left hand corner. Fozzie wraps up the scoring for the first half, getting on the end of the line after Conor picked up at the base of the scrum and busted through the first line of defence.
Chris opened the scoring in the second half, taking an overthrow at the lineout, then weaving his way through the opposition twenty two, treating us to a dummy, before scoring to the right of the posts. Ben then wrapped up his hat trick, nipping down the right wing after a subtle pass from Will P and another charge from Conor. Chris followed in Ben’s footsteps, claiming his third try in the left hand corner after good work by Sam down the wing. Dan’s prowess at the line out came to the fore for the next score. Ollie’s penalty touch finder set up a lineout on the opposition’s five metre line. Dan secured the ball, then the rest of the pack drove the maul over the line. The ball was smuggled to Charlie who sneaked over for the try. Winger Sam took the score over the half century with the final try. The ball was moved from right to left, then back again. Chris made a short break to towards the corner, then passed to Sam who dived over for the try.
Squad: (1) James Cross (2) Rob Davies (3) Sean Hammond (4) Dan Sutton (5) Jack Pearce (6) George Hodkinson (7) Charlie Davies (8) Conor Frain (9) Tom Bamberger (10) Will Gregory (11) Lloyd Smith-Coates (12) Cameron McKay (13) Ben Foster (14) Sam Bancroft (15) Ollie Aston (16) Thomas Healey (17) Christian Taylor (18) Sam Black (19) Tom Bamberger (20) Will Preece (21) Ben Hadfield (22) Tom Leicester (23) Harley Aston
First Half
Macclesfield Colts:
Try: Ben Foster (13) – 10m, Conversion: Ollie Aston (10), Try: Christian Taylor (17) – 21m, Conversion: Ollie Aston (15), Try: Lloyd Smith-Coates (11) – 25m, Conversion: Ollie Aston (15), Try: Ben Foster (13) – 30m
Vale Of Lune:
Try: (8) – 23m, Conversion: (10)
Second Half
Macclesfield Colts:
Try: Christian Taylor (17) – 2m, Conversion: Ollie Aston (15), Try: Ben Foster (13) – 7m, Try: Christian Taylor (17) – 9m, Conversion: Ollie Aston (15), Try: Charlie Davies (7) – 15m, Try: Sam Bancroft (14) – 33m
