This weekend, Anselmians travel to newly-promoted Manchester Medics for a first League encounter this season. Last November, Medics were doubled booked with a cup and league fixture scheduled for the same day. Luckily, the weather intervened and this is the next available Saturday.
Medics have struggled to re-establish themselves in South Lancashire/Cheshire 1 after they won promotion last spring from the newly-formed, (and now defunct), Cheshire (South) division.
Last season, they scored nearly 1000 points in winning 20 out of 23 games and were clear winners of the division by 5 points from Oswestry, who were also promoted. They, like us, have won 3 games and, last week, beat New Brighton 16-10. Clearly the step up has been difficult for both promoted sides and the Medics are in danger of being dragged into a relegation dog fight with ourselves, Wigan, Oswestry and, possibly, Sefton.
They will realise, like ourselves, that games between the less successful sides must be priorities and are, what our football colleagues, call “six pointers.”
In their last season in South Lancashire/Cheshire 1, in 2014-2015, Medics won 7 and drew one of their 26 games, but were relegated with Ruskin Park. The solitary draw was at Malone Field, when in an error-strewn, but exciting, contest, Medics fought back and secured a 41-41 result. In the return fixture the following April, we triumphed 24-12. A victory the probably condemned them to the drop.
Medics, inevitably, have a transient pool of players, and it was notable that this side, renowned for its running rugby, came unstuck unceremoniously a fortnight ago at Manchester, losing 5-60. Indeed, prior to last week’s win, they had lost 8 consecutive league games (as opposed to 9 by us!)
Both sides desperately need a morale boosting victory to ease relegation worries and it would seem to promise a high-scoring, but close, game. Let us hope that it is Anselmians who win the “six-pointer!”