Cheshire Independent Issue 202

JUNE 2025 20 CHESHIRE have booked a date at Twickenham after battling their way to the final of the Bill Beaumont Senior Men’s County Championship. A narrow 34-37 semi-final win against EastMidlands at Bowdon RUFCmeans thecountywill head to thehomeof England rugby for the final clash against Devon on Sunday June 22. Earlier in the competition Sandbach pair Jimmy Gore and Laurie Essenhigh played decisive roles for Cheshire in a bruising encounter against Northumberland at Birkenhead Park, which saw the county tri- umph 29-11. Essenhigh, who plays at scum- half, is also a senior coach at the club and went on a short loan in February to Caldy for their Premiership Cup clash against Newcastle Falcons. Club captain Gore, who recently received the ‘Sandbach RUFCClubmanoftheYear’award, missed Sandbach’s quarter-final cup match against Ilkeston due to injury but was back to full fit- ness for the county clash. Gore was selected again in a compelling win over Durham. He was also named vice-captain for the county side, who won 80-14. Sandbach’s George Cole and Harry Leese were named in the squad and came on for their debut. In the next round Gore went on to win his ninth county cap with Cole coming off the bench to help see off Cumbria in a con- vincing 28-45 win and seal the semi-final slot. Sandbach’s Callum Oakden also put in another stand-out performance in the competition during Staffordshire’s 22-0 win over theNorthMidlands. LOCAL RUGBY ROUND-UP Independent LOCAL SPORT TIMPERLEY found them- selves in second spot in the Cheshire County Cricket League’s Premier Division after a gripping two wicket win over Brooklands. Alderley Edge find themselves in fifth spot following a home defeat at the hands of third placed Hyde. The Edge slumped from 45-2 to 87-7 before rallying to posts 151. Hyde were 75-6 in reply at one stage before an unbro- ken 80 partnership between Rian Maisuria and Andrew Jackson guided them to a four- wicket win. Bowden also fell to a five- wicket home defeat at the hands of Widnes, who recorded their first league win of the campaign. And there was a seven-wicket win for Nantwich at Oxton where Luke Robinson hit 86 off 58 balls for the visitors. Cheadle were top of Division One, their victory over Urmston putting them 17 points clear of second place Bramhall, who recorded a home win against Sale with three balls remaining as they chased 176. Macclesfield found themselves in sixth place in the table after their five-wicket win against Toft. Chasing 223, Alex Thomp- son (71 not out off 68 balls) and Khalid Sawas (38 not out) put together a 77-run partnership to seal the victory. Stockport Georgians’ jour- ney to and from Maritime lasted longer than the match itself. Opting to bat, Georgians crashed to 56 all out, Maritime only needing 34 balls to secure the win. In Division Two, Andrej Yak- sender returned to the Bolling- ton line up with an 83-run innings as his side beat Upton by six wickets to stay in sec- ond place. North East Cheshire recov- ered from 80-4 to get to their target of 189 set by Haslington, while Romiley won their derby with Stockport by five wickets. In Division Three, Oakmere extended their wins to four in a row, their latest victory a 108- run win over Middlewich. Over Peover lost by 162 runs at Hale Barns despite having the hosts at 157-7 at one stage. Hale Barnes’ number nine Alex Read smashed an astonishing 101, adding 122 in 18 overs for the eighth wicket. On the county stage there was to be no repeat of last year’s run to NCCA Trophy Final as Cheshire fell to Berkshire in the quarter finals. Berkshire batted first and posted 308-6. Chasing, the away side were bowled out for just 169 in the 39th over. MACCLESFIELD manager Rob- bie Savage has signed a new two- year deal that will keep him at the football club until 2027. Savage, who is also a shareholder in the club, will now lead the Silkmen on the next stage of their journey towards EFL football. His signing came as the club con- tinued its preparations for life in the National League North following pro- motion from the Northern Premier League, guided by the Welshman. The former Leicester, Blackburn and Derby midfielder, who is a shareholder in Macclesfield and also works as a pundit, was director of football at Macc before taking charge of the first team last year. Silkmen chairman Robert Sme- thurst said: “We are absolutely thrilled to be able to keep hold of Robbie despite offers from numerous clubs, the jour- ney continues.” Meanwhile, the club have made their first signing of the summer. Winger Isaac Buckley-Ricketts has arrived from Curzon Ashton for an undis- closed fee. The pacey, direct 27-year-old winger was an ever present for The Nash scoring on 12 occasions last season in all competitions. A product of the Manchester City Academy, Buckley-Ricketts was also an England U18, U19 and U20 International. The opening weekend of the National League North season will start on Saturday August 9, with Saturday April 25 the final day of the season. The National League have also confirmed that the Promotion Finals will take place on Saturday May 9 or Sunday May 10. THE JOURNEY CONTINUES Boss Savage signs new two-year deal THE RFU has confirmed the club placings within National League Rugby for the 2025/26 season and it is good news for Macclesfield. The new campaign will see Macc playing in National Two North, alongside Lancashire rivals Preston Grasshoppers and Fylde. The league will also include Billingham, DarlingtonMowden Park, Hull, Hull Ionians, Otley, Rossendale, Scunthorpe, Shef- field, Sheffield Tigers, Tynedale and Wharfedale. The move means an end to lengthy journeys south which last season saw the Blues travel as far afield as Cornwall. In a statement the RFU said: “We do work hard to review the travel scenario facing all clubs and make what we believe are the best decisions while recog- nising that sometimes there is no perfect solution. “We understand that this will have been a challenging scenario for the clubs involved, so it has also been agreed that there should be a review of the league structure during the season, ensuring significant input from clubs, to explore other options that might minimise the travel burden for 2026/27.” National League Rugby chair- man John Inverdale added: “The geographic problems posed by splitting England into three (National Two North, East and West) was never more illustrated than by the almost impossible situation, and the game had to make decisions to try and be as fair as possible to as many teams as possible. “As the RFU statement out- lines, it has been agreed that there should be a review of the league structure during the sea- son, and we will work hard to ensure there is significant input from clubs around this.” Following a review and decision made by RFU Governance and the Adult Competitions Committee, Chester and Lymm will be playing in National Two West next season. The teams for the 2025/26 season in the Northern Division – Regional 2 North West league have also been confirmed. Sandbach will be up against newly promoted West Park St Helens and North Ribblesdale as well as Birkenhead Park, who dropped down a division after a brief spell at Level 5. There will be tough matches against Firwood Waterloo, Vale of Lune and Burnage, as well as another long trip to the Isle of Man to play Douglas. Northwich and Winnington Park will be on hand to provide tasty local derby clashes. Altrincham Kersal will also be playing in Regional 2 North West next season. Twickenham date for county MACC HEAD NORTH New deal: Robbie Savage has signed as boss until 2027 (Photo credit: MFC) LOCAL CRICKET ROUND-UP Tight margins in league clashes