Ashford hits milestone in home win
Macclesfield WXV rounded off a first season in NC2 with a win against Didsbury Toc Heaton in a tightly contested and entertaining match at Priory Park. Didsbury came into the match off the back of five wins, and the winner of this contest would finish second in the league, so there was something at stake to be played for. It was also a special day for Julia Ashford as she made her fiftieth appearance for the club. Captain Mel Bramley commented, “This season has been such a success, with the team achieving way more than we hoped for when we came up into NC2. Recruitment has been outstanding, and we have developed a really close-knit, committed squad that wants to play for each other. Finishing off the season with a win in a really competitive game, with the winner taking second in the league, was a perfect end to the year. We have had amazing support from sponsors, coaches and supporters this year, and the players have really thrived on the added challenge of a tougher league. Bring on next season!”
Julia Ashford on her 5oth appearance for Macclesfield
Macclesfield stared brightly with good runs from the back and second rows and put Didsbury under pressure. However, the final pass was often risky or not warranted, and the attacks came to nothing. Didsbury came back into the game using their excellent outside centre effectively, and the home side were guilty of not closing on a very deep aligning Didsbury back line. From their own twenty-two, the Didsbury thirteen punched a whole though the Macclesfield defence before being brought down by centre Sophie Barnett. Didsbury recycled the ball quickly to score under the posts, which was duly converted. Both sides looked to attack, and Didsbury were looking a little more connected, and after several phases of play, the away side’s thirteen broke through the Macclesfield defence to score. This was converted to put them up to fourteen points after twenty-five minutes.
Macclesfield were now under pressure and Didsbury centre was causing problems, and only a brave tackle from Annie James prevented her from scoring. Julia Parker and Barnett looked to break, but the away defence was proving hard to break through. Positional changes were made with Annie Mitchell moving to centre and Ria Horsley moving to the wing, but before these could make any impact, Maria McMaster received a yellow card for a high tackle. Despite being down to fourteen players, Macclesfield fashioned an excellent try for Julia Parker to score, converted by Mel Bramley, to make the score 7 – 14. Horsley was looking dangerous in attack, and then Mitchell produced two electric finishes in two minutes, the first off quick hands from Barnett, then from the kick off she picked up a bouncing ball in the twenty two and evaded several defenders before fending off the full back to score a brilliant solo effort. Both being converted by Bramley to put a completely different perspective on the game, with Macclesfield leading 21 -14 at halftime.
Julia Parker scores to get Macclesfield back into the game
The second half was equally entertaining with both sides looking to attack. Evie Foster, Kacie Lawton and Julia Ashford were outstanding in defence, as was forward of the match Katie McCree. In sweltering conditions, both sides rotated players, and the pace of the game continued to be fast. The Macclesfield line was improving, and fly-half Bex Ward intercepted on halfway to sprinting away to score with the conversion hitting the post. The game continued at a pace, and both sides were starting to tire. Macclesfield were exerting pressure and with Didsbury conceding a penalty in front of the posts, Ward stepped up to kick the points with twenty minutes remaining. Macclesfield led by 29 points to 14. Didsbury are a very good side, like to move the ball and with 10 minutes remaining fashioned an excellent try. Macclesfield played intelligently, looking to kick the ball deep to make Didsbury attack from their own half. All credit to Didsbury, they continued to attack and scored a converted try to make the final score 29-26.
The final words on the win and the season go to team manager Liz Jarratt “Gaining promotion to NC2 in 2025, we had expected a great year of rugby against more challenging teams. To then earn second place in NC2 is a testament to the hard work of the whole squad and our amazing coaches – it’s been a fantastic season, lots of new players have joined the squad, and 4 of us have hit 50 caps for Macclesfield. Yesterday’s win over Didsbury was hard fought and played in the true spirit of rugby – great to see both squads smiling and celebrating the season together post-match” Congratulations to Annie Mitchell, the back of the match, and to Julia Parker, the opposition’s player of the match.
Annie Mitchell breaking to score her second try
