MOORE prepared for Saturday's derby with Eagle by beating Vagabonds 43-28 on the opening day.

Both sides started with aggressive midfield tackling with quick defensive line speed and some effective ball retention, particularly by the Moore pack.

The home side appeared to have the upper hand from the start but clever hands from the Vagabonds fly half saw them score the first try under the sticks which was converted.
Moore have worked on their attacking defensive line and looked organised and competitive around the ruck.

Will McMullen returning at number seven gave Vagabonds a hard time in the loose and following some scrappy play, Moore’s patience was rewarded when the ball came wide for Brad Atherton to put Adam Wadsworth in for Moore’s first of the day. 

Lewis Johnston converted.

Moore continued to dominate the forward play and it was only a matter of time before the ball came wide again and Danny Wilcock touched down in the left corner for the second converted try.

Vagabonds struggled with Lewis Johnston and after some impressive fly half wizardry he continued 20 yards with several men failing to bring him down before he made  it over the line for a superb individual try.

The second half saw Moore playing with James Foulstone coming on for Matt Fleming in the second row following an ankle injury.

A penalty for hands in the ruck was kicked by Johnston and when play restarted Moore’s fourth try was scored by Brad Atherton which was converted.

Vagabonds returned with some good running but Moore’s solid defence forced Vagabonds to kick high which they caught and scored.

Moore remained resolute and had more to offer and Wadsworth scored next, following some quick backs play.

Agile prop Dave Dixon has obviously been working on his kicking game during the off season and decided to give it a go rather than running and his kick saw the ball run back toward the Moore line.

A sloppy pass was expertly intercepted by Danny Wilcock, who went on to step the Vagabonds full back to score a length of the field try for his second of the day.

The game was all but won before Vagabonds passed out wide to score around a tiring Moore back line that had tackled relentlessly all game.

A new-look Moore seconds side drew 24-24 at Hoylake on Saturday.

With several players making their club debuts, the game started with an up-front battle.

Early line breaks by McLarney and man-of-the-match Harvey resulted in a try for the latter, but poor discipline allowed the hosts to score twice and at half time it was 12-5.

The second half saw Hoylake increase their lead to 19-5 but their poor discipline and Moore’s tactics saw Sweeney cross and Griffiths closed the gap.

After Moore conceded five points Hughes was denied a try, with his foot in touch, but Craig then scored his first try for the club.

The visitors drew level with a minute to play and were lucky when the final kick from a Hoylake penalty went wide.