On the back of an away league win the previous week, Stockport 3's were back at Headlands Road welcoming local rivals Wilmslow 2's with only 1 point separating them in the league at the start of the day. Stockport welcomed back flanker Nathan Jackson from a long term injury as well as handing seasonal debuts to scrum half Dudley Southern and flanker Olly Joyce whilst positionally, the globetrotter that is Dom Waterhouse-Kern stepped into the breach to fill the loose head prop shirt. The team also saw Isaac Wall start at No.8 whilst the Animal was back in the shape of prop Jack Booth, the scariest nicest man in the world!!!

The start saw the home side playing up the hill but assisted by a sight breeze and all the early exchanges belonged to Stockport, however the final pass seemed to constantly let them down as well as a constant stream of penalties for offside or holding on. From this early pressure, a ruck right in front of the posts saw Southern shaping up to feed his outside backs however with a quick twist he nudged through a little grubber kick that he recovered himself to dot down under the posts for a try converted by fly half Rick Morgan giving the home side a 7-0 lead. Wilmslow were not for taking a backwards step however Stockport held strong, particularly in the set piece disrupting the opposition line out ball and dominating at scrum time. A fine break from the Wilmslow 10 nearly led to a try if not for a great covering tackle from wing Max Bailey and another opportunity was thwarted by an excellent try saving tackle from full back Myles Mason. Despite their dominance, the home side could not increase their lead and soon Wilmslow were level when a simple missed tackle led to an easy stroll under the posts for a score-levelling try and conversion. Things then went from bad to worse as Waterhouse saw yellow for a blatant infringement, and the cracks were starting to appear with hooker Alex Hooley and centre Aaron Hussain having to be reprimanded like scalded children by their dad (well everyone's dad) following a heated and frank exchange of views and soon after, Wilmslow were over for a replica score of their first which took the teams in to the break with Stockport 7-14 down.

Half time saw a few blunt points made around defence and rucks, as well as people ANONYMOUSLY being highlighted for their lack of tackling which really didn't sit well with skipper Mel McCaughey however more on that stroppy little boy later!!!! The second half started with Stockport in the ascendency, playing basic error free rugby which allowed them to exert their forward dominance especially now they were back to 15 but with Wilmslow down to 14 with a man in the bin. It wasn't long before that pressure told with the Hobbit that is Hooley burrowing his way over for an equalising score, expertly converted from the touchline by Morgan and it was now 14-14 with all to play for and 14 soon became 19 after Joyce smashed onto a ball at pace, threw an audacious dummy (however I feel more like the 10 didn't fancy tackling him on the rampage) and it was now 19-14. Subs were now being made which saw Dan 'Wooooo' Eccles onto the field at 8 and Jackson making his return however unfortunately this didn't last very long as the injury resurfaced and he was forced back off the pitch, to be replaced by Dan Zelinka. At this point, Hussain was sporting a Chinese burn on his lip worrying what his girlfriend Isabelle Mia Broadhurst (apparently have to use her name as girlfriend wasn’t enough) would think however he needn't have given the fact she text him AFTER the game asking what time she should come down to watch!!!!! Stockport were soon on the scoresheet again as lock Chris 'Hobbit Feet' Dodd managed to force his way over which was amazing given that during the course of the week he has lost toes to frostbite, to amputation and to septicaemia and was now playing in specially adapted boots to fit around his dainty feet and the score was now 26-14 after Morgan tagged on the extras. Hussain then had to leave the field given he was wandering round like a white Stevie Wonder claiming he could no longer see, however he has merely been hit in the face by the ball so a quick reshuffle saw wing Duncan Hedar (don't mention Pirates) into the centre and Fin Johnson onto the wing however this had no effect at all on the game and soon it was 31-14 after Wall forced his way over after the forwards decided to turn the screw and pile on more pressure.

Now it was at this point where vice captain Keith Warhurst decided to approach his skipper McCaughey and congratulate him on his 2nd half performance. Now you would think that anyone wants to be told they are playing well so being told to fuck off wasn't the expected response. Again Warhurst reiterated his support for his skipper and his leading by example which was this time met by, fuck off and leave me alone. Now this is not an unusual dialogue between McCaughey and Warhurst however it usually involves copious amounts of Jameson's whisky by one of the participants. It later came to fruition that McCaughey believed he had been singled out for missing tackles (remember the use of the word ANONYMOUS) by Warhurst's half time spray but its ok, they have kissed and made up now!!!!!

With the game now all but over, there was still time for Booth to crash over for a 6th try of the afternoon and with that the final whistle blew giving the home side at 36-14 win. An excellent 2nd half performance based on defence, rucking and patience with the forwards to the fore ably supported by the solidity of the backs. Special mention to Dom Waterhouse for stepping into the propping breach and not only doing his job but being part of a scrum that was dominant, he is indeed the child of Paddington!!!

On to MOTM and to be fair there were a number that put their hands up with notable mentions to hooker Alex Hooley and scrum half Dudley Southern however the skipper has the final say and to that end, for his relentless ability to relieve pressure and make probably the best tackle he ever has, this week's MOTM goes to Mr Rick Morgan

Now onto DOTD and in fairness, we've given our own miniature version of John Terry (aka Daniel Cockersmith) a fair amount of grief this season for his ability to find himself in the dressing room and the showers HOWEVER this is usually after he has taken some active part of coaching, whether that be training and/or the game. So you can imagine our surprise when AFTER training had finished on Wed night and we were all getting ready for the showers, in walks Tom Mounkley who has basically turned up for a shower and post-training food so this week's DOTD is Tom Mounkley!!!!

Now talking of showers, and quite possibly the funniest thing he has ever come out with but post match the lads have showered and are all getting dressed when Dan Eccles points out that given the expanding size of him, Dom Waterhouse actually looks like he's had the arse of a child's doll transplanted onto where he own should be. This led to Eccles finding himself so funny he nearly choked to death and then proceeded to ask if that's why Waterhouse had been to America, for an ass transplant!!!!!