GORTON STREET GAZETTE Today our 1XV will be entertaining Aldwinains RUFC, who were founded in 1936 as Old Aldwinians Association, formed from old boys who attended Audenshaw Grammar School. The first record of a game between Eccles and Old Aldwinians we can find in the club archives is from the 1946/47 Season, when Eccles played at Redclyffe Road, near Barton Swing Bridge. The fixture planned for 15th March, 1947 - Old Aldwinians 1stXV v Eccles1stXV was cancelled but the return matches 12th April 1947 resulted in a wins for both Eccles teams; Eccles1stXV 11 v Old Aldwinians 1stXV 8. Old Aldwinians 5 "A" v Eccles "A" 22 The match report paints a picture “ECCLES LEAVE IT LATE. Eccles entertained Old Aldwinians at Barton on Saturday and won a keen game by 11 points to 8 on Saturday, the issue being in doubt until the closing minutes of the game .Having lost the toss, Povey kicked off and Eccles were quickly on the attack. Play was fairly even but just in the final minutes before the interval, Aldwinians took the lead in a surprising manner. Eccles were coming away from their 25 after a defensive spell and Warren was going through, but seeing his progress barred, he kicked ahead. But his kick, a hard one, landed fairly and squarely in the stomach of Johnson, the visitors' centre, standing only two yards away and somehow or other stuck. Nobody looked more surprised than Johnson, but he was quick to size up the situation and was away in a flash to score under the posts. This was converted to give Aldwinians an interval lead of 8-3, but within three minutes of the resumption, Eccles were level, Leigh picking up to score a try which Povey converted. Try as they would, however, Eccles could not cross the line again and it was not until five minutes from the end that Povey kicked anoth er penalty to give them an 11-8 victory.” The photo (taken in October, 1946) shows Tom Povey as Captain and also W.S. Warren, cross legged 3rd from the left - mentioned in the article. All Saints church at Redclyffe Road appears in the background.
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