There was an early start to National Conference League fixtures as Wigan St Judes hosted Clock Face Miners in Division Two at Parsons Meadow on Tuesday evening and both sides rewarded the crowd with a thrilling derby.
Judes led 10-0 early on thanks to some sparkling play that brought two tries. Callum Kneafcy scored the first, adding a lovely finish as the ball came his way and Danny Cassidy goaled from wide out to make it 6-0 after five minutes. Ten minutes later Danny Cassidy swept up a low kick for the second.
Clock then scored from their first decent field position moments later, Callum Topping touching down out wide for Jack Highcock to goal.
Next, St Judes came up with their third score following a low kick and excellent chase. A rare error from Michael Carney saw Jacob Dugdale dive on the loose ball before anyone else. Cassidy was wide with the boot for a second time and it was 14-6 after 27 minutes.
The remainder of the first half belonged to Clock Face and on the back of some excellent direction from Kenny Hughes, tries came from Luke Forber and Ben O'Donnell. Shaun Costello converted both to give the visitors a deserved half-time lead at 14-18.
Lewis Melling leveled things for Wigan St Judes after 47 minutes with a pinpoint finish in the corner, but Cassidy couldn't convert. Then the game went through a holding period with neither side really threatening and much of the play being between the two twenty-metre lines.
This deadlock was finally broken just after the hour when an intricate play in the centre of the field eventually saw Forber pierce the line and cross under the posts. Costello kicked his third goal and Clock looked set to complete victory until the prop forward was sin-binned inside the final ten minutes after a high tackle. From this point, Judes built. They steadily gained field position before Max Dudley drove over from close range and Danny Fallon converted for 24-24 after 75 minutes. Then with a minute left and the crowd expecting drop goal attempts, Josh Rogerson surprised everyone in taking the ball wider, then offloading in heavy traffic for Dave Fagan to scramble over the line for Fallon to goal and confirm a 30-24 win for the hosts.
Victory moves St Judes five points clear of the drop zone with four games remaining while Clock Face remain a point behind Normanton Knights in fifth.
