After a game the Wolves had been expected to win there was a real sense of pain and gloom around Wilmslow at the manner of their defeat.
Of course, we have all been there before but this time the season had started out with real optimism that the Wolves had the players to be in the mix for league honours. However, at the end of January all such hopes are completely mangled as they lie in seventh spot.
Injuries to proven match winners such as Chris Lillie and Jordan Kennedy, unavailability and departures to other parts of the country have all taken their toll and the draft of new players introduced in recent weeks have yet to prove that they are ready for rugby at this level.
It’s not yet a crisis but captain Mike Clifford and his coaching team now have a challenge on their hands to raise the team’s belief and motivation for the last three months of the season, and in particular to target the winnable games they have left.
The task is made all the more difficult by the announcement that enigmatic No 8 Ryan Parkinson has played his last game for the club and is to join Macclesfield.
Parkinson would dearly have loved being part of a league winning Wilmslow side but the opportunity that has arisen at Priory Park to compete for the number six jersey is just too good to turn down.
He’ll be a big loss but everyone at Wilmslow will wish him well as he follows in the footsteps of Chris Jones and Charlie Mulchrone.
Wirral, promoted to this league in the autumn, will be delighted with their progress. While they’re not among the strongest sides in the league, they are well away from the relegation zone and still perhaps a little surprised at where they find themselves.
The game started with an electrifying break from Wilmslow full back Matthew King, who very nearly ran all the way to the line. For the next few minutes, the Wolves ran everything and another King break on seven minutes was finished off by Ben Day.
But from there, the Wirral side slowly gained the upper hand, the Wolves being forced to change their tactics as slow possession forced them to kick, which they didn’t do very well.
Wirral also looked pretty ordinary in their attempts to run things back, Danny Harvey missing three kickable penalties. The Wolves went 8-0 up through Bob MacCallum’s kick after 35 minutes but Wirral changed their kicker and two strikes by Sam Broadbent brought them back to 8-6 at the interval. Overall the game was looking what it was, a mediocre contest between two mid-table sides.
Just after half-time, the Wolves attempted to inject a bit of pace into the proceedings. An enterprising kick ahead into space was chased by prop Lewis McKay but Broadbent was there first and launched a bombshell into the Wilmslow half before being obstructed off the ball by McKay.
The referee – alerted by the crowd – clearly hadn’t seen the incident and it was questionable whether McKay’s obstruction had been deliberate or not. But a penalty was awarded where the ball had landed. It was still a long way out but Broadbent thumped it over the bar.
The home side produced their best rugby of the game for the next 15 minutes. Tom Hall, on for Mark Bartlem, got yellow carded as the pressure grew. From a scrum on halfway, a deft kick ahead saw Day caught in possession and when the Wirral forwards were held up, crisp passing created the space for their right winger Arkinson to score in the corner from where Broadbent converted.
The Wolves then rallied to have the better of the last quarter. Elliot Brierley scored oon the left but Broadbent was soon back kicking his fourth penalty of the afternoon.
Back the Wolves came, as the game was still winnable, but any momentum they threatened to build was always lost with a lack of composure. Inaccurate passing, knock-ons and infringement in the rucks all handed the initiative back to the home side. The Wolves just couldn’t apply the necessary finish and Wirral held on for a deserved win.
