Saturday 18th October 2025

Regional 1 North West

Leek 32

Wirral 30

As the scoreline suggests, this was a close game with a fair dose of cautionary play between the 22s employed by both sides interspersed with some good attacking spells and defensive sets. Leek edged the game and secured 5 points to win their first home league game of the season.

Noah Reaney, playing his final game for Leek before heading to the Antipodes, started at full back with Alex Fitzmaurice James and Sam Brereton on the wings. Josh Nadin moved to 12, partnering Will Midwinter in the centre as Scott Rawlings continued at fly half with Joe Byrne at 9.
Skipper Joe Newton Taylor, Ed Cheadle and Lewis Dunleavy made up the front row. Joel Booth and Tom Hayes were at lock. Joe Gorman was No.8 with Billy Kidd and Ollie Powell on the flanks.
George Hunt, Joel Hine and Kin Critchlow were on the bench.

On a cold, still afternoon, the opening quarter was largely a defensive affair with both sides risk averse, and so it wasn’t a surprise that the first score didn’t come until the 25th minute. The visitors won a penalty for a high tackle in Leek’s 22. The home captain received a warning about high tackles, which was to be a theme throughout the game, and the Wirral 10 kicked the points. 0-3.
3 minutes later and Will Midwinter kicked a 40-metre penalty as Leek won a penalty for not rolling at the tackle. 3-3.
On 34 minutes, there was a yellow card for a Wirral player following a high tackle which was preceded by a warning to their captain. The lineout for Leek 10 metres from the Wirral line wasn’t caught and Wirral cleared.
On 37 minutes, a Leek penalty for in at the side of the maul on Wirral’s 22 allowed Joe Byrne to kick for a 5-metre lineout . The catch was good and the maul moved close to the visitor’s line. A series of rucks ensued before the ball sped right and Alex Fitzmaurice-James crashed over for the first try of the afternoon. Will Midwinter’s conversion missed but Leek led 8-3.
On 40 minutes, a penalty for a high tackle to Wirral led to a simple attempt at goal. 8-6.
In the 4th minute of added time AFJ was shown a yellow for not releasing the ball at the penalty. Wirral ran the ball but a knock on brought the half time whistle at Leek 8 – 6 Wirral.

The 2nd half was a minute old when Will Midwinter kicked another penalty for a high tackle and stretched the lead to 11-6.
On 44 minutes Wirral won a penalty and another 10 metres for backchat, allowing the kick for the lineout to be deep in the Leek 22. A catch and drive and then a peel off the back of the maul by the No.8 allowed him to crash over for a try. The conversion was good, and Wirral took the lead again at 11-13.
That lead was extended on 50 minutes with a successful penalty after Leek’s scrum was penalised. 11-16.
On 53 minutes, the Wirral prop was yellow carded for a high tackle and on 61 minutes Leek broke into the Wirral 22 with AFJ kicking through to near the Wirral goal line and winning the penalty for not releasing as the defender collected the ball. Leek ran the ball into a ruck and with patience and good retention, the ball was eventually worked to the right where Sam Brereton just had enough space to score. Will Midwinter converted and Leek retook the lead at 18-16.
On 64 minutes, another yellow card for backchat didn’t help the Wirral cause and 3 minutes later Sam Brereton was scoring his 2nd try in 6 minutes. Patience in midfield then allowed Scott Rawlings to produce a great pass to Joe Gorman who broke the tackle, stayed on his feet and into the Wirral 22. A quick ruck and Joe Byrne was on hand to thread a long pass to Sam Brereton on the right for a try. Will Midwinter converted and Leek was up to 25-16.
Leek was playing with more freedom now, but it took a knock back from Wirral in defence then a kick backwards to near their own line on 68 minutes, to enable Josh Nadin to pounce on the ball near the goal line and then score. Will Midwinter converted and Leek had their try bonus point and a 32-16 lead.
As the game entered the 80th minute, Wirral scored their 2nd try when the left wing cut inside from outside the Leek 22 and ran in under the posts. The conversion was good and at 32-23, the visitors were out to win some points. Sam Brereton received a yellow card for not releasing the ball at the penalty in the 3rd minute of added time and allowed the kick for the lineout on Leek’s 5 metre line. The catch and drive to near the leek line was followed by a pickup and try near the posts. The conversion was good, and Wirral had claimed a loosing bonus point in the last 4 minutes of play as the game ended at the conversion.

It had been a low-key game punctuated by 5 yellow cards for technical, high tackle offences and indiscipline, but one which nevertheless produced the right result for the Moorlanders as they moved up to 3rd place after a quarter of the games have been played this season.

Still, it’s a long way to go with Anselmians still undefeated and leading the league and their next game is at 2nd placed Burton on Saturday. Leek travel to Stockport, hoping to defend their unbeaten away record this season and Huddersfield travel to Derby. Wirral face Manchester and Long Eaton are at home to Blackburn as Rochdale plays Bowdon.

Leek 2nds were at home this weekend too, in the 2nd double header of the season. They faced Stafford 1sts on top field and produced a 9 try win against a Stafford side looking to win a 3rd game in a row. The win was Leek’s first in 3 games too and helped consolidate a midtable position.

Leek 3s travelled to league leaders Littleborough 3rds in their NOWIRUL Division 5 East game and came away with a convincing 14-33 win. The win boosted the Moorlanders into 2nd place in a very competitive league.

Finally, the Leek Colts travelled to Burntwood in the morning and won 17-33 with the local Cannock Chase deer watching the action.

A great performance from the whole club this weekend and a big thankyou to all the hard-working coaches and managers for their dedication and enthusiasm for the teams.

Author: J.McDermott