2017 Road To Wembley - Round One

2017 Road To Wembley - Round One

After a break of almost three months without domestic rugby the opening day for the amateur and community clubs had finally arrived!  Officially the 2017 season was about to get underway as Round One of the Ladbrokes Challenge Cup kicked off with a huge local derby between two National Conference League Premier Division sides.

As it was last year, Leigh Miners Rangers had been drawn at home at this stage of the competition so my first road trip was pleasingly short and comfortable.  The visitors this time would be their near rivals Wigan St Patricks, a side who had only sneaked into the Play-offs at the end of last season thanks to a better point’s difference over seventh placed Kells.  The Miners, who had swept all before them to claim a treble of trophies in 2015, had finished in a disappointing third place in 2016.  The teams last played each other in early October in the first round of those Play-offs and today’s hosts had come out victorious, winning 36-16.  But despite a narrow 22-20 away win to league runners-up West Hull in the Semi’s they lost heavily to league-leaders Siddal in the Grand Final on 30 October 42-4.

Having received confirmation that our presence would not be required elsewhere, the better half and I set off to Twist Lane to take in our first rugby game of the season.  I expected there to be a much larger attendance than last season due to the teams being just six miles apart, so we agreed to get there as early as possible.  Having managed to find an unorthodox space to park up in an already packed car park we made our way into the ground, paid our entrance fee (which I noticed had gone up by 50p from last season), purchased a programme and made our way to purchase a warming beverage.

Earlier in the week it was announced that the BBC would be live streaming a game from each of the first five rounds of this year’s Challenge Cup and they had picked this derby as their focus game for Round One.  Therefore, the pitch side was laden with Ladbrokes, Dacia and Rhino’s advertising boards and a rather rickety looking gantry had been built where the BBC cameras were filming the match.  The programme also said that the Challenge Cup itself was in attendance but unfortunately I never got the chance to see it.

The light shower that fell as the game got underway didn’t perturb the die-hard fans to take shelter under the clubhouse canopy like us but, with butties in hand that we’d brought from home, we opted to try and crane our necks over the line of spectators along the pitch side barriers.

Admittedly, It was difficult to see the far near side of the pitch from our vantage point but we could tell that it was a tense match from the reaction of the crowd to some of the decisions made by referee Scott Mikalauskas.  A few errors were committed by each side as they tried to dust off their pre-season cobwebs but the first score went to a strong visiting attack with 20 minutes gone.  A successful conversion meant St Pats were 6-0 ahead.

But the Miners looked just as strong and, with a big crowd behind them, were able to pull a try back in the left corner with three minutes to go but their conversion was missed and St Pat’s were still 6-4 ahead as half time was looming.  Play suddenly stopped and we thought the ref had blown for half time but he’d actually given Miners a penalty which was successfully kicked and the sides were level at the break!

At half time we decided to make a move for the opposite side of the ground along the car park fence right behind the in-goal area.  The rain had died off but it had left the pitch rather boggy under foot and it was a challenge in itself not to slip and fall walking behind the sticks at the car park end.  We made it to the other side and enjoyed a much better view of the game during the second period which included a bloke from Golborne failing miserably to win himself £5,000 in the Ladbrokes Crossbar Challenge.

The second half got underway with thoughts that the first score would be crucial to the outcome of the game.  It was St Pats who surprisingly got it six minutes in but this time their kick was missed and their lead was a slender one at 10-6 with over half an hour to go.

The game swung in the home side’s favour eight minutes later though when the centre scored a good try to level the tie for the second time and thanks to a successful conversion they led for the first time in the game.  Surely Leigh wouldn’t miss out on a place in the draw for Round Two for a second year in a row?

But they will as St Pats’ smelled blood in the last ten minutes as they pushed for what would surely be a winning try.  And they got it with four minutes remaining.  An excellently worked try saw the visitors steam over for their third and final try, much to the delight of their travelling supporters, and when the easy conversion was secured they by four again at 16-12.  And that was enough to seal victory as the full time whistle blew very soon after!

So for two years I’ve started my journey at Leigh Miners Rangers and both times they have lost.   I seem to have become some sort of jinx to the Miners (sorry guys!).  But it will be Wigan St Patricks who I will now be following with anticipation in Tuesday night’s draw.

Where will my journey take me next?

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