Sat 1 Feb 2025
Trafford MV 2nds went into the weekends game against Eccles 3rds with wholesale changes to the the team that won the previous weekends cup quarter final against the same opponents. Poor player availability ripped through the 1st and 2nd XV's and left nothing more than to cry off the 3rd XV fixture.
The effect was imminently visible when the visitors to MacPherson Park scored directly from the kick off to set the scoreboard rolling. Eccles were building a healthy lead and Trafford's only option was to play the ball through their girthy centres Dave Hopper and Aaron Fagan which worked to good effect, Eccles possession slowed down a degree.
The Eccles attacks were unrelenting with the athletic looking attack seemingly finding gaps at will among the makeshift Trafford defence. The MV players threw themselves into tackles and can take full credit for the effort they put in. These efforts culminated in a well worked try for prop Niall Sheridan dashing over in the right hand corner outflanking the covering defence for a consolation try. A 5-68 home defeat is quite humbling however Trafford have taken the trilogy of games against Eccles this season 2-1 and can be well satisfied with that and the semi-final to look forward to.
Trafford MV now need to regroup and get regular players back into selection so they can head into their home game against Leigh 2nds with something like a full strength starting XV.
