ANOTHER Saturday, another First Division team in opposition - this time Old Bedians. Chorley again gave a good account of themselves, but could not resist the urge to play expansive rugby.

The visitors used more limited but ultimately more effective tactics to soak up the Chorley pressure and capitalise on the handling errors which inevitably came in the slippery conditions.

Several key players were again missing from the Chorley pack but stand-ins Alcock, Reed and Kwasnicki proved themselves able deputies. The Chorley forwards played well together and the scrummage was much improved. The backs, ably led by Andy Leigh who is developing into a fine fly-half, were strong in defence, but tried too hard to run the ball in attack, when a kick for position would have been the better option.

Old Bedians almost always kicked for position inside their own half. The only exceptions were a series of superb solo counter attacking runs from their talented full-back.

Old Bedians dominated the first 15 minutes of the game, scoring a converted try and a penalty to go 10 points into the lead. Towards the end of the first quarter and still on top, Bedians suffered a cruel blow when their left wing dislocated his knee and was stretchered off.

One man's loss is another man's gain and Chorley seized the game by the scruff of the neck when play resumed. They dominated the remainder of the first half, but only managed to score one try, when Neil Jones burst through from full back to score on the right. Though the Chorley team strung together some good passages of continuity, every time they worked themselves into a scoring position the ball went to ground and Bedians escaped.

Possession was equally shared in the third quarter but neither side managed to score any more points. Old Bedians came very close on the hour, but a good cover tackle from Booth forced the Bedians right wing into touch five yards out. The visitors came back immediately and this time they were not denied, scoring a well-worked try when the right wing linked up with the stand-off. This turned out to be the final score of the match, with Old Bedians holding on to win by 12 points.

Chorley can again take heart from their performance - the last few matches against first division sides have proved that they can handle the pace and intensity of rugby at the next level up. But better tactical awareness is required if they are to turn possession into points against sides of this quality.

Converted for the new archive on 14 July 2000. Some images and formatting may have been lost in the conversion.