Sandbach seized a late victory from the hands of Douglas on Saturday in a pulsating match against the islanders. Sandbach flew to the Isle of Man early on Saturday morning to take on the Manxmen. With two points separating the top four teams, a win was vital to maintain the pressure at the top of the table.

Sandbach made two changes from last week’s win against Altrincham Kersal, with George Perkins taking the number 8 spot and Ben Verbickas starting on the wing. Aaron Briscall made his seventh start of the season, continuing at blindside flanker, while Ollie Jones kept his starting spot on the opposite side.

Douglas opened the scoring after twenty-two minutes with a converted try, after the visitors missed a tackle. Sandbach responded by taking three points from a penalty kick by Matt Randle. Minutes earlier, the spot kicker’s long-range effort rattled the crossbar, but this attempt was successful. The home side scored again before the break to take the scores to 12-3, but Sandbach were still in the game. The wind dominated the first half and it would be against Sandbach in the second half, making the task even harder.

Sandbach reduced the deficit early in the second half when hooker Matt Davies touched down from a catch and drive for his fifth try of the season. Douglas, however, hit back and scored a try after a series of scrums and short-range pickups.

Randle drilled over another penalty after fifty-five minutes to move the scores to 19-11. In the final quarter, a quick tap penalty from skipper and scrum-half Laurie Essenhigh caught Douglas napping and earned him his seventh try of the season. This put Sandbach within touching distance at three points behind.

In a dramatic finale, having been behind for most of the game, Sandbach finally took the lead. With five minutes remaining, winger Verbickas got hold of the ball and sped away to secure the final score of the afternoon. Sandbach managed to keep the ball in the last few minutes to see out the game and clinch the victory.

The final score was 19-21 and player of the match went to inside centre Harry Leese for his fine display in midfield.

The huge travelling contingent were thoroughly entertained by the rugby on display and after witnessing Sandbach seize the victory, they would fly home delighted, despite experiencing a few delays.

On Saturday, Sandbach return to Bradwall Road for the final outing of 2025 against neighbours Northwich. When the two teams met in September, Northwich came out on top in a narrow contest. Sandbach will be looking to reverse their fortunes this time out against their close rivals. With Christmas just days away, ‘Bach will seek to end the year on a high and give the home crowd the ultimate early Christmas present, a big win.

Earlier this month, three of Sandbach’s Senior Colts, Ollie Mitchell, Zach Boschi and Dylan Husbands, played for Cheshire Under 18s as they beat Yorkshire 15-24 at Keighley RUFC.

Dylan, who has put in some impressive performances for the 2nd XV this season, picked up the player of the match award. It hopefully won’t be long before Ollie and Zach join Dylan in the senior squad, as these three promising youngsters aim for further achievements.

Next match:
Sandbach 1st XV Vs Northwich 1st XV
Saturday 20th December – Kick-off 2.15pm
Bradwall Road, Sandbach
Match Report by Rhys Fullerton