Wigan 3 Sandal 8
Sandal moved into the last 8 of the Northern Section and the last 32 nationally of the EDF Senior Vase, which culminates in the final at Twickenham next April, with a no frills win at a sodden and windswept Douglas Valley when their organization as much as their mental toughness saw them home. With the referee asking both sides prior to the game if they thought the pitch was playable it was obvious that this was not going to be a day for expansive rugby and so it proved. The home side had the conditions in their favour in the first half and made the early running applying pressure in the Sandal half and dominating territory. They threatened when an astute kick to the corner from their fly half allowed their pack to set up a maul close to the Sandal line but not for the last time were they penalized in the maul allowing Sandal to clear the danger through the powerful boot of young full back Chris Reakes who gained good ground on numerous occasions in the half in spite of the strong wind against him. With Wigan giving away too many penalties and then having a second row sent to the sin bin Sandal were able to find field position and from a lineout in the home twenty two the Milnthorpe Green men took full advantage when they drove their way over the line with scrum half Max Whittingham touching down to give his side a five point lead on twenty five minutes. Wigan came back and threatened when their centre intercepted on half way only for the Sandal cover to get back and snuff out the danger on their twenty two metre line and then twice more when kicks ahead saw first second row Rob Overton and then wingers Simon Frewin and Dan McCormack defend superbly to relieve the pressure and leave their side five points ahead at the break.
With Sandal choosing to go to the changing rooms at half time to escape the biting conditions the second half opened with the wind and rain having somewhat abated and the home side putting together several quality phases of play and threatening to come back into the game. This pressure saw Sandal concede a penalty at a ruck and home fly half Whittle stroked the ball between the posts to cut the deficit to two points. Although Wigan continued to try to salvage the game it was not a day for catch-up rugby and the final quarter of the game saw Sandal dominate territorially and increase their lead when fly half Tom Smith converted a penalty to restore his side’s five point lead. With scrum half Max Whittingham using the conditions to keep Wigan penned back in their own half with his probing kicks Sandal saw the game out and in the final 32 of the competition as the final whistle sounded.
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