The 3rd XV march on to yet another victory with a comprehensive win against Linley 2nds. The Crewe boys controlled the game from the first minute with Captain and scrumhalf, Ian Moss, playing an authoritative game at 9, driving his forward pack into whichever gear he chose and releasing the ball to great effect whenever his Flyhalf, Jim Creighton from MMU, demanded the ball.

The first try came after 2 minutes when the forwards took the ball to the Linley 5 mtr line having taken the ball on through a series of pods working around the corner. From a scrum, centre Josh Grant crashed the ball up to set up a ruck and quick ball to flyhalf Creighton, allowed him to split the defence to score to the right of the posts for a converted try. Shortly afterwards, another break by Creighton linking with his fellow MMU flanker, Alistair Lang, gained 40 mtrs with wing, Liam Morris, setting up a ruck secured by wing, Jack Anderson. The ruck produced quick ball and a long pass by Moss hit Creighton whose missed pass to Grant put Grant into space providing the opportunity for the supporting fullback, Chris Warburton, to set up a ruck on the Linley 5mtr line. The hard working 2nd row, Anthony Hollinshead (AP), picked up and then powered over the white wash. Crewe continued to dominate and Linley found it very difficult to make any impact on the game. From the restart, Creighton received the ball in his own half and with a sweet dummy and step inside, he was off to score a 60mtr try under the posts which he converted. The pressure continued and with a penalty awarded 5 mtrs from the Linley line a quick tap saw prop, Al Hargreaves, batter his way to the line for a try converted by Creighton. The final try of the half was from hooker, Dave Greatbanks, who supported a good break by openside, Alistair Lang, with Greatbanks receiving the ball on the opposition 22 and then with a determined run, he fended off 2 defenders to dive over the line to score a great try. The half time was 31-0 to Crewe. Ian Moss and Richard Smith spoke intelligently at half time asking the boys to keep to the structure and commit the defenders with the forwards going around the corner, then releasing the backs and thus the plan was set for the 2nd half.

With prop, Dylan Bratherton, replacing Smith and 2nd row Gareth Pritchard already in the fray, Crewe started to score again with a neat blindside move from an attacking scrum, No 8 Mark Manaton picked up and fed scrumhalf Moss onto wing, Jack Anderson. From a ruck the ball went through hands to centre, Jono Hemmings, who gave a neat inside ball to Josh Grant, now playing fullback, who scored to the left of the posts for a converted try. The next try was from Linley as they scored after a series of pick and drives but a swift repost was to follow. From a Crewe lineout on the Linley 10 mtr line, 2nd row, Barry Jacks, secured good ball off the top of the lineout and the ball was moved through quick hands to fullback, Josh Grant. In a piece of great individual skill, he chipped the ball over the advancing Linley defenders, catching the ball on the full and then released it to centre, Liam Morris, who put speedster wing, Jack Anderson, into the corner to score the try of the day. With 20 minutes to go and the relentless pressure continuing, prop Richard Smith returned with 2nd row AP joining him not long afterwards. From a 5 mtr lineout on the right won by Jacks, prop Smith rolled off the maul and powered his way through 3 defenders to score a popular try about 3 metres in from the touch line. The boys were not finished and a grubber kick behind the defence by Creighton lead to a foot race and winger, Jack Anderson, gathered the kick and scored to the right of the posts converted by Creighton. The final try came from a quick tap from scrumhalf, Moss, feeding the lively Grant who made ground to halfway releasing centre, Liam Morris, for a 50 metre run to score under the posts for a converted try.

This was an excellent team effort and shows the tremendous development of the 3rd XV this season under Anthony Proudlove and Ian Moss leadership. The team is great blend of youth and experience and they apply a simple game structure which everyone understands and implements. It is an exciting brand of rugby and anyone who gets the opportunity to watch them should do so as there is something worthwhile developing in this team. Man of the match goes to Flyhalf, Jim Creighton from MMU who was very impressive and created many opportunities for the guys around him as well as scoring 3 tries. There are some very talented players feeding through from MMU and flanker Alistair Lang also had an outstanding game within a great team performance.

Team
Hargreaves,Greatbanks,Smith,Jacks,Hollinshead,Lang,Stevenson,Manaton,Moss, Creighton,Anderson, Hemmings,Grant,Morris, Warburton, Pritchard, Bratherton.