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Week 19 January 28th

Carlisle beat Wigton and Rochdale won against Broughton Park to allow both winning sides to progress to safe, mid table positions. Aspatria had a good win against visitors Wilmslow but climbing out of those bottom three spots will continue to be problematic while others also pick up points. Vale of Lune beat Wirral at Powderhouse Lane. The battle at the top for promotion places saw all three challengers win. LSH triumphed against Anselmians while Widnes beat Leigh and retain second pot. Northwich won at leaders Sandbach in a desperately tight match and thus record the first home reverse for our leaders this term. A vital win for Northwich who have yet to visit LSH this season.The likelihood is that the relegation places will be filled by those teams (5 of them) with 39 points or less, but nothing is for certain.

Sandbach 10-11 Northwich
A last minute try by Ben Elliot for Sandbach (that he converted from the touch line) was not quite enough to protect the leaders winning home record this season. Sandbach had won at Moss Farm in October but there is never very much between these two evenly matched sides. Two Grant Hallum penalties and a Chris Dale try we're enough to land the victory for Northwich but a Will Cargill penalty had been all that Sandbach could offer until that Elliot score late in the day. Very little to separate these two sides now that Northwich are recovering from injuries. But Sandbach are deserved front runners and they should do well in National league rugby next season whether that be Nat 3 Midlands or North. The Sandbach 1st team manager is understood to be in Auckland -presumably looking for Super 15 talent-and could not be contacted for a comment but he and his colleagues will be very well pleased with their teams efforts despite this result.

Widnes 19-12 Leigh
Widnes got this difficult fixture behind them but it looked like two points each with the whistle not too far away.Gareth Riley scored for Widnes and Jon Hetherington converted. Wilcox kicked a couple of penalties for Leigh. Chris Schofield crossed for Widnes and Wilcox kicked two more Leigh penalties to bring the scores level. Widnes replacement Pieu Liku came on for the home side and the back row forward was the man to score the winning try. Andrew Riley converted and Widnes retain their second place. Widnes face their fellow promoted side Anselmians next Saturday at Malone Field. Leigh will entertain Aspatria.

Carlisle 12-6 Wigton
Another tight match at Carlisle where Wigton were expected to run the City side very close. Wigton had the home team penned back in their own half for long periods of this dour match played in awful conditions. Defences were on top however and Carlisle were given more penalties in kick able positions. Consequently Glen Weightman was Carlisles only scorer with 4 penalties. For Wigton Greg Scott had two chances and kicked them both. 12-6 and Wigton will feel that on another day their pressure might have been rewarded with more points.

Aspatria 15-8 Wilmslow
Staying in Cumbria and once again Aspatria win on their own ground. Not a great match by all reports but these two were playing for points not for the spectacle. Bob McCallum knocked over a penalty for Wilmslow who held the balance of play through the first half and then the debutant Wolves scrum half Ed Armitage darted through to grab a try. 0-8 and Aspatria needing some inspiration. Wilmslow were possibly their own worst enemy as they were guilty of several handling errors and from one such mistake the home sides Lee Holiday crossed and Jack Clegg made no mistake with the conversion. 7-8 and game on. Clegg got a penalty as the visitors conceded possession once again and the Cumbrians had their tails up.

It was left to Aspatria's Lindsay to complete the scoring with a good unconverted try. Wilmslow started this match with two props playing in the back row. Assurances from Wilmslow that this was an enforced and not strategic decision, but the team generally played well and will rue the relatively simple handling errors that were punished by a gutsy Aspatria performance.

Liverpool St Helens 39-19 Anselmians
LSH returned to winning ways with a good victory over a resurgent Saints side. It was in fact an astonishing match with Anselmians running the home side ragged through the first period with an early try by LSH by Alex McClurg after good work by Worsely and Stanley being answered by The Saints with a Mason Pena Ty them a Paul Key try In the corner that Mason improved upon. The same Mason then kicked three more first half penalties to take his side in for the break to a 7-19 position and dreaming of mid table security. Dave Cunliffe and Paul Bamber were introduced off the bench by the LSH management and the game changed dramatically. Within 4 minutes the two replacements had combined to send Matt Cunliffe over and Worsely converted. A further Worsely penalty put the home side back within touching distance at 17-19. Hull for LSH started to make run after run and his second half performance could be put down to the enabling moves by the two half time subs. Hooker Tickle for LSH followed a speculative kick forward by Stanley and was rewarded with a try and Dave Cunliffe added another before Ian Stanley completed the second half route for the home side. Amazing match; imagine the emotions of the two sets of supporters as the two halves unfolded. Easy to report that The Saints will escape relegation after their first half performance but it is an 80 minute game. For the Moss Lane promotion hopeful's it was full points and another win in the bag. Keeping the whole squad happy has its risks.

Rochdale 25-5 Broughton Park
Rochdale moved into safer waters after this victory while Broughton Park connections will be looking anxiously at the league table. Park got the scoreboard rolling when the forwards rolled and rolled until Warren Duffy finally scored. The unfamiliar name of Connor Mitchell is now kicking for Park after Ronan O' Brien's move to Sale FC. Mitchell could not convert Duffy's try on this occasion. Rochdale then started to play really good rugby with backs and forwards equally engaged. Bradwell kicked a penalty for Dale before Mair and Coldman combined to send Jimmy Flitcroft over and then the same combo worked another chance that Coldman took advantage of to score well. Bradwell added a further first half penalty and the home side changed ends 20-5 ahead. Just the one score in the second half as Park closed some defensive holes. Matt Bradley crossing to conclude the scoring. Park are regrouping but they will need to get some points in their locker and can surely feel the hot breath on their backs of the chasing pack. Their second half defensive performance offers encouragement in the task ahead.

Vale of Lune 37-10 Wirral
A high scoring match was expected and the Lancaster spectators are rarely disappointed. Vale decided to use penalties to kick for corners or to take the scrum. This strategy worked well as Phil Berry crossed the whitewash from a set piece play and the boot of Tom Carter made it 7-0. Craig Harvey pulled three points back for Wirral but the Vale scrum half Darren Wilson went blind from yet another scrum to feed James Hodder who chipped and caught before scoring. Vale scored their third try throughGareth Tudor and then on the half hour mark Jimmy Moore got the forth to register a bonus point in double quick time. Carter converted and the teams changed over with Wirral trailing 27-3. Straight from the restart Carter scored a try of his own and then play was disrupted by a yellow car to Vale prop Hesketh and 5 mins later a further player from each side were "binned" leading to 5 mins of uncontested scrims. Danny Harvey eventually scored a good converted try for Wirral but Tom Ball for Vale had the final word with a good score.

Expect a good match at Wigton next Saturday when Vale of Lune are in town. Anselmians at home to Widnes should be another match not for the faint hearted and we have the south Cheshire Derby at Wilmslow where Sandbach are the visitors. Wirral host LSH. Looking ahead at the promotion chase, there are matches between Widnes and LSH and Widnes Sandbach as well as LSH Northwich. Vale of Lune are not yet out of it either. The results of these matches will be key to the runners up spot but there are banana skins all around for the gladiators and far too early to make predictions.

Week 18 January 21stAnselmians win again and a rare Rochdale triumph at LSH were the highlights in this week of rearranged fixtures. The Saints from Anselmians need to win against the other strugglers and also target the mid table teams if they are to escape the drop. They are doing just that and their win against Wilmslow followed victories against Leigh and earlier season wins against Broughton Park and Wigton. They are within just 5 points of the three teams above them now and anything is possible.

Rochdale have been slipping down the table but this week-end they won away at LSH and they join Wirral on 39 points after Wirral lost at home to Sandbach. Leigh had absent players back in harness, and were back to winning ways with a good result against visitors Broughton Park. Widnes came from behind to win against Wigton.

Widnes 27-8 Wigton
In the end it was a comfortable margin but Wigton paid dearly for indiscretions after leading for much of the first period. Widnes scored a try in the 1st minute when Gareth Riley crossed for Leadbetter to convert. Wigton were not outplayed however and Gregg Smith kicked a penalty and then scored a try to edge the visitors a point ahead. It was just before the break before Leadbetter kicked a penalty to allow the home side to change ends 10-8 ahead. Widnes started the second period strongly but it was two yellow cards for Wigton that changed the game around. Kevin Leadbetter and Andrew Riley immediately scoring good tries for the home side. 22-8 at this stage and a quick throw in by Widnes caught Wigton off guard and saw Kevin Leadbetter score an easy try wide out. Widnes go second in the table with a game in hand on LSH.

Anselmians 21-13 Wilmslow
Malone Field was the venue for this match with Anselmians looking to repeat last Saturdays win against Leigh. Wilmslow were the visitors this week, and it was Wilmslow who went ahead when Bob Macallum kicked a penalty. Simon Mason drew his side level but The Saints then went a man down for 10 mins but they seemed to draw inspiration from this setback and went ahead through skipper Paul Hellier's try after very good work from his pack. Matt Pennington then crossed again in a replica move for the home side and at 13-3 half way the Saints looked good for a second January success. After the break Wilmslow kicked a further penalty but Hellier for Anselmians replied with a second try before Mason added another penalty to reach 21-6.

In the closing minutes Wilmslows forwards were rewarded for their afternoons toil when a training ground line-out, catch and drive took them across the line. The trusty boot of MaCallum converted butAnselmians were home and dry 21-13. There are just 4 points between these two sides in the league table but Wilmslow have a game in hand on their rivals.

Leigh 31-0 Broughton Park
A welcome return to form for the Leigh connections who won emphatically against Park who are slipping down the table. Leigh were even prepared to concede home ground advantage to get the fixture played. Despite the return to availability of Parks speedster Ade Titiloye and Jonny Thomas the rampant Leigh side racked up a 4 try bonus within the first half an hour with Calvin Crompton returning to the team, grabbing a couple and Eccles (who has also been unavailable of late) getting another try. A Chris Morgan charge down was converted by the reliable boot of Tom Foreshaw who knocked over two other conversions. Peter Ince was creating havoc for Leigh and his pass to Crompton for the bonus try was exquisite. There was little to compare this performance from the Leigh outfit that crumbled at Anselmians just one week earlier.A better second half from Park but it was better because they only conceded one more try. Adam Dyson crossing the chalk after full back Paul Wilcock had done all of the hard work. Park expect one further first team player to return next week for the trip to Rochdale but this was a sixth consecutive defeat for the Hough End lads and they need the confidence that a win would surely inject into the squad.

Liverpool St Helen's 19-21 Rochdale
This result confounded just about all of the participants in the Aspatria Prediction League as Dale turned the form book on its head. With a stiff wind behind them LSH were off the mark sharply with a smart try by Alex McClurg and then a typical back row try by in form LSH no 8 Phil Kearns. The boot of Liam Ratcliffe was able to convert both tries. 14-0 but Rochdale got onto the scoreboard after turning ball over and James Flitcroft scored but LSH were soon celebrating a third try when the alert Ian Stanley found room to score. Perhaps the turning point of this very even match was just before the break when Rochdale's Dom Macklin finished of a good move to go over in the corner. At 19-10 the freezing cold LSH faithful will have been concerned that the gale would be in their faces for the following 40 mins. Dale belied their lowly league position and gradually worked their way forward. A Bradwall penalty was followed by another Flitcroft try but they were still 19-18 behind. To the dismay of the watching Moss Lane faithful, an unnecessary penalty was conceded and Bradwall made no mistake to win the game for his side.

LSH were left to regret not having made more use of the elements in the first half but Rochdale move away from the drop zone.

Wirral 7-34 Sandbach
Sandbach stretch their lead to 19 points in the table with a fine performance at Wirral. The manner of their victory suggests that they are indeed "accelerating through the tape" instead of sitting back on their laurels. Sandbach started with the wind behind them and are an early penalty miss their no 9 Bird took a quick tap penalty and fed Jack Seddon for an easy try. After a further few minutes the Sandbach wingers combined well and Sam Morris created the overlap for Jack Leech to cross the whitewash. 0-10 after two unconverted tries then and Cargill kicked a penalty before handing over the kicking duties to Ben Elliot who knocked over a couple more. 0-19 at the break and Wirral had been run off their feet by the league leaders. Matters didn't Improve much when Rob Pearl was yellow carded and a forth Sandbach score from Ali Burton followed.0-24. On the hour mark the Wirral lads started to test the Sandbach defence with this time a yellow for the visitors. Jack Yarker for Wirral scored his first senior try and Harvey converted. Sandbach had the last word however when Jack Seddon went over with Ben Elliot adding the conversion to complete the scoring. An impressive performance by Sandbach who entertain Northwich next Saturday.

Week 17 January 14th
Leaders Sandbach won handsomely at Broughton Park by a convincing 49-5 margin. Behind them Liverpool St Helen's got a potentially difficult fixture out of the way when they beat Vale of Lune 15-5 at Moss Lane. Northwich go third after beating Aspatria 36-0, although Widnes did not play and they have a game in hand on both LSH and Northwich . Two slightly unexpected results to report with Anselmians winning 14-3 at home to Leigh and Carlisle winning 13-18 at Wirral. Wigton came out victors against visitors Rochdale in a very tight match; 22-20 was the final score.

Just one match lost to the weather when the Wilmslow pitch was declared unfit.

Northwich 36-0 Aspatria
6 tries for Northwich who are starting to see a few injured players get back into training. It was not until 20 mins that Joel Barber scored the 1st try but then scores came at regular intervals with Graham Robinson the home No 8 getting a pushover wide out and then lock Chris Heywood registering a rare try. 17-0 at half way and after the break, Sam Naylor, in a rich vein of form, added two for his side and Dan King concluded the scoring with a fine try. Debutant Jason Brown played the final 20minutes for Northwich and showed enough talent to suggest that he will add something extra to the side in the centres. Northwich are too often unable to field their two firemen at away matches involving long trips.

Broughton Park 5-49 Sandbach
A lesson in running rugby on a fine day at Hough End and theSandbach faithful were out in force to cheer ever one of the 7converted tries scored by their lads. Scrum half Mark Bird got Sandbach going with a typical darting try that Cargill converted. Cargill then added one of his own and kicked his second conversion. Massey was next to cross the Park line and Cargill made it 21 points for the visitors at half time. Massey got his second before the Park forwards gained some benefit for a difficult afternoons work by finally getting 5 points on the board. It was to be a brief respite as Sandbach brought on a couple of youngsters and one of them, James Beal, scored twice before Ali Burton crossed for the seventh. Cargill had a 100% conversion rate and these lads look unstoppable especially with the firmer pitches to come. Fixtures away to Wirral and then at home to Northwich are next up for the league leaders.

Anselmians 14-3 Leigh
Anselmians showed a lot of guts in the face of the big Leigh pack and defensively The Saints were much better value than in recent matches. Tanni Huanga was playing in the hooker's shirt due to unavailabilty and he was the player who was in amongst the studs to burrow over for an opening (and solitary) try to take his side 5-0 ahead. Simon Mason kicked a penalty before Leigh's pack forced an infringement that was duly punished 8-3. Despite a lively period from the Leigh forwards it was two more Simon Mason penalties that concluded the days scoring. Good defence by the Saints.

Liverpool St Helen's 15-5 Vale of Lune
A hard match was anticipated at Moss Lane as Vale have been racking up a lot of points recently, while LSH have been misfiring of late. The form book through the season indicated an LSH win and when Vale took an early lead through a Gareth Tudor try an interesting, albeit a stuttering, game developed. Tudor has worn the LSH colours in the past so his try will have been very popular amongst the LSH faithful. The score remained at 5-0 to the visitors through until half time.  After 10 minutes of the second half Vale lost their talismanic scrum half Darren Wilson for 10 minutes and then lock Lee Acton also trotted off for a 10 minute break. The game had been littered with penalties and this resulted in a generally poor spectacle. LSH responded to the lack of numbers in Vale's ranks positively and Phil Kearns found space to cross for the equalising try. Ratcliffe converted; 7-5 to LSH. Vale were too easily diverted from their game and losing discipline. Replacement Pape for the home side lit up an otherwise poor advert for the game when he picked up a loose ball on his own 22 to run, kick- long, collect and touch down for a good individual score.

LSH were then awarded a further succession of kickable penalties and Simon Worsley kicked the last of these to give the home side a deserved victory. Dave Cunliffe for LSH was back after suspension and it was his positive influence that seemed to generate a degree of confidence in his colleagues on a bright day when penalty seemed to follow penalty.

Wigton 22-20 Rochdale
Up at Wigton the visitors were Rochdale who were looking for their first away win this season. Wigton however were in the unaccustomed position of looking for their third consecutive home win. Gregg Smith, the Wigton kicker knocked a first half penalty over but at the break this remained the only score. Smith the kicker then became Smith the try scorer when he cleverly chipped the defence to score well. He duly converted his own try. With Rochdale only able to kick a penalty it was the home side that scored next when prop David Waning ran 25 metres along the wing for a rare try. We don't see his name among the try scores very often. At 15-3 ahead Wigton might have expected to pile on more points but it was the visitors, who's pack were on top of their game on the day, who scored a good converted try to bring the score to 15-10. Further good forwards work by the visitors and yet another converted try saw Rochdale move in front for the first time 15-17 and plenty of time to play. Gregg Smith was having a good match for Wigton and he put his brother Scott into a gap for a splendid try that was converted. 22-17 but still time for Rochdale to kick a penalty. 22-20 it remained at FT and the men in green, and their long suffering supporters, were able to relax and enjoy 3 successive home wins. Meanwhile in the clubhouse, prop Waning was embroidering the tale of his try scoring run with a couple of sidesteps and an extra 30 metres. Good man !

Wirral 13-18 Carlisle
A good away result for Carlisle who were losing going into injury time but scrum half Tim Hughes for the visitors playing an advantage, crossed in the last open play of the game with a vital 7 pointer to take the win.The match had started with Carlisle playing with the wind and Glen Weightman kicking the ball intelligently to keep his pack interested. The visiting forwards were dominating procedures at this stage but it was not until the 20th min that the Cumbrian No 8 Lee Brumpton picked up at the base of a 5 m scrum to crash over wide out. 0-5 and Weightman added just one penalty before the break to change around ahead 0-8. Wirral will have felt that they had the speed among the backs to overtake this relatively small lead. It developed precisely this way when Craig Harvey knocked over a penalty before a quick Wirral tap penalty resulted in a backs movement and Rob Pearl crossed with Harvey adding the conversion. With Wirral ahead 10-8 they might have expected to hang on against the big pack, but with the elements blowing in their favour. Penalties were exchanged and at 13-11 there was 15 minutes left to play and Wirral held out bravely until that final piece of smart play by Hughes. Wirral will argue that they should have put the ball over the road as time had run out but once again they lose a tight match at the death.

Wilmslow P-P Widnes
Not too much has changed in league positions at the top. Sandbach stretch their lead to 17 points but Widnes have a match in hand. The VOL challenge stuttered a little at LSH. At the bottom both Wigton and Anselmians triumphed but the gap above the bottom 3 is still 8 points. Carlisle move away from trouble and will cause problems now whoever, and wherever they play.

The effect of the bonus points changes can be clearly seen when looking at the records of Rochdale and Anselmians in our league. Similar records of 5 wins and a draw from 16 matches but Rochdale, albeit with a far better points difference, are a staggering 9 points ahead of Anselmians.

Week 16 January 7th
The form book went out of the window as the Xmas pudding sat rather too well on the stomachs of several of the top sides but Sandbach made no mistake to go 14 points clear after both LSH & Widnes lost. Behind Sandbach there is just 4 points covering Widnes, LSH, Northwich and Vale of Lune in the struggle for the second promotion spot.

Widnes 5-12 Northwich. Second place at home to fourth place but the visitors came out on top to record a double against the high flying Widnes outfit. Northwich 1st team captain Sam Naylor took the honours with a big match that saw his side home in a tight game won by two tries to one. It was indeed Naylor who took a splendid pass from the returning Cass Wilding to run in an early score that Grant Hallum converted. Widnes responded into first half injury time when Pieu Lika went over for an unconverted try. 5-7 at half way with the Widnes pack gaining control but the Northwich backs looking ever dangerous. After 68 minutes the Northwich captain Naylor playing in the number 6 shirt, took another defence splitting pass and scored well wide out. Intelligent forward play by the visitors kept the ball away from the home side as they ran the clock down for a good win. This result, plus the news from the Carlisle/LSH game throws open the race for the second promotion place.

Carlisle 23-18 Liverpool St Helen's.
A great win for Carlisle who have now opened up a 9 point gap over their rivals in the basement spots and the Cumbrians look now to consolidate their league position in mid table after starting the campaign somewhat sluggishly. For LSH this was not the start to the new year that they were looking for and a single losing bonus point was poor consolation in a match where they were competitive throughout. Reports suggest that the admirable kicking by Carlisle's Weightman who was 100% on a squally day, settled the outcome. Well matched packs but LSH had a Cunliffe missing and two other unavailable from their usual squad. 3 tries to LSH against 2 from Carlisle with Earl, and a penalty try for Carlisle and Ian Stanley crossing plus a brace from Dave Westhead for LSH.

Sandbach 32-10 Wigton
A good win for our leaders against a young Cumbrian side that always give a good account of themselves. Sandbach were 13-3 ahead at the break after 2 tries from Leech and a Cargill penalty. Wigton contributed a Hanabury penalty. Second half tries from Sandbachs Murray, prop Gareth Caen and a third from Leech sealed the victory but Wigton with a Rob Mars try and Hanabury conversion had the last word. As Sandbach go 14 points clear at the top their camp were not commenting upon promotion. Rumour has it that they now have an impressive back-room team that extends past the usual physio and coach into fitness trainers, specialist moves coordinators, backs and forwards coaches, phsychological advisors, and possibly hair grooming coaches as well. They are absolute certainties for higher things now and their attention to detail is exemplary.

Aspatria 8-0 Broughton Park
Two wins for Cumbria in a week-end as Aspatria got the better of a Broughton Park side that seldom fail to score a point on a Saturday.This match could well have produced a lot more points for the home team as their forwards dominated play particularly in the second half. As it was a long range Jack Clegg penalty was all that they had to show after 40 minutes. Immediately after the restart however a charge down by Aspatrias Brown was capitalised upon by lock Mark Bowe who trotted over in the corner. Aspatria forwards were held up over the line three times and knocked on with the line begging on a further occasion but the scoreboard was stalled and 8-0 remained the status at the end.

Broughton Park are a splendid old amateur club with great traditions and a fantastic set up at Hough End but they suffer from being located rather too close to other Manchester teams who's corinthian credentials are less well defined. Consequently they lose players nowadays whereas in the past they would attract them. (Nuff said Guv).

Vale of Lune 58-31 Anselmians
89 points scored on the open fields of Lancaster is a familiar tale. As is the norm Vale scored most of them and it really makes for good spectator appreciation on cold mid-Winter Saturdays. 13 tries in all with two more locks getting a brace each in Acton and Wallbank for the homesters with James Hesketh, Hodder MacCluskie and Carter all crossing for Vale. Anselmians ran in 5 tries of their own with Matt Pennington getting a couple from the wing and Mafi, Haunga and McDonagh also getting in on the act. Simon Mason's boot was once again effective in converting 3 of those scores. Vale are suddenly back in the mix as results elsewhere went their way. Their defensive game might need sharpening up but they are good value going forward.

Rochdale 10-15 Wirral
A good away win for the Wirral lads on a gusty Rochdale afternoon. Two years ago there was two leagues between these two clubs and the Wirral faithful will have delighted in this away win against a very mobile Rochdale outfit. Wirral won via tries from Rob Pearl and Joe Murray but Craig Harvey had a top game. A penalty and a conversion go against Harvey's name but he was also around the park to great effect and it was his passes that put his colleagues "into those holes" in the defence. After a couple of seasons consolidation at this level Wirral look good enough to challenge for honours going forward. Rochdale are regrouping after relegation but their fast backs will always keep them from falling further one feels.

Leigh 5-13 Wilmslow
Not the expected result from Leigh who were off their game on the day although they started well enough with a try from hooker Peter Ince. That turned out to be their lone score as Wilmslow took their chances well and their set piece worked admirably. The Ince try was responded to immediately as the Wilmslow No 8 Dan Wright bullocked through for a converted try thanks to MacCallum. MacCallum added two further penalties for the visitors to complete the scoring.

Good fixtures this week-end with Widnes at Wilmslow, LSH hosting VOL and Wirral at home to improving Carlisle. Anselmians at home to Leigh should be a cracker while Wigton might overcome visitors Rochdale who have a poor away record. Northwich should beat Aspatria and leaders Sandbach should win at Broughton Park.

Week 15 December 17th

Just 3 games escaped the elements but all good contests and significant nonetheless. In the basement Aspatria visited neighbours Wigton with real hope of repeating last weeks effort against Wirral. Not so, as Wigton saw their long term opponents off with a 26-12 victory. Broughton Park entertained this seasons surprise package, Widnes but just failed to overcome the new boys, going down 17-20 in a real tight one. The other match was at Powderhouse Lane, Lancaster where Vale of Lune were hosting Carlisle who are having a good run after a sluggish start to the campaign. The Carlisle lads fought valiantly but went down 23-17 and that is a very good result indeed as Vale are always a very tough team to upset on their own turf. Carlisle pick up a vital losing bonus point to go 6 clear of the bottom slots.

Widnes go second with a similar record to LSH but with a couple of extra bonus points. Wigton’s victory draws them to within a point of Anselmians. Aspatria are 13 points adrift of safety and need to reproduce their second half form for the whole 80 minutes if they are to climb the greasy pole.

Broughton Park 17-20 Widnes
The result was everything to Widnes rather than the method on a dreadful afternoon, and against a Park side that fight long and hard at home. Credit first to the Park staff for getting the match played at all. It was Widnes who got the scoreboard rolling with Leadbetter following up his own kick ahead to touch down wide out. The same player then kicked a penalty to allow the visitors to go 8-0 up. Park responded well and Paddy O Donnell crossed with O'Brien adding the extra 2. Widnes full back Andrew Riley has made his mark on a number of grounds already this season and he was once again on the scoresheet with a cracking try that Leadbetter converted. O'Brien responded with a penalty and at 10-15 there was little to choose between the sides. The Widnes third try was very well crafted by Riley who sent Walsh over. Back came Park with the evergreen Guy Barlow scoring and the trusty OBrien boot doing the rest. There had been a couple of yellow cards for mainly technical infringements but Widnes picked up a red when the packs got a little heated. Pity because it had been a good sporting contest. 17-20 it remained and a good win for Widnes who recorded their first double at this level-it won't be the last. Park pick up a losing pont but had no complaints afterwards re the overall result.

Vale of Lune 23-17 Carlisle
A good tight match at Lancaster where the improving Carlisle were in town. Old rivals these two teams and the match was another cliffhanger. The reverse fixture up at Warwick Rd was a mauling for Carlisle and they were looking for a bit of respectability in this return match. Vale went about their business in their usual style of mixing up the moves to try to release their fast backs and before too long Adam Mcluskie capitalised upon good work by Hodder to cross wide out. Macluskie then turned provider and fed James Curran well to double the score. 10-0 and another hashing coming up for the Carlisle lads ? Well no ! In fact Carlisle started to play very good rugby and when Vale's Alex Bains took a 10 min breather in the sinbin the Carlisle team found a way through via No 8 Gareth Wylie. Yet again Carlisle surged forward and their big second row Callum Rowlandson Powered over with a couple of would-be tacklers draped across each limb. Weightman converted and the visitors took their half time oranges 12-10 ahead. Not satisfied with this unexpected position Matthew Minett crossed yet again for Carlisle and at 17-10 ahead the form book was looking decidedly out of sync.

Vale are made of stern stuff nowadays however and were not about to roll over at their own ground. With Danny Lin having a really effective game first Carter went over in the corner and then a Jimmy Moore penalty gave them a single point advantage. Anyone's game with time to play. It was the home side that found the reserves of energy and Lin was everywhere. It was eventually Andy Powers who had found the space and he crossed the whitewash to conclude the scoring. Great tussle and, while Vale took the match, Carlisle managed the losing bonus and they will surely shake a few more of of this leagues mid-table residents through the second half of this long campaign. Vale have the talent, season after season to take this league comfortably but inconsistent form away from home keeps them in the top half but never seemingly mounting a serious title challenge.

Wigton 26-12 Aspatria
Aspatria had lost this game within the first 20 minutes as Wigton started impressively with full back Gardener winning the chase to ground a kick-through in the 5th minute. Turnover ball at a ruck just 3 mins later saw Hanabury pick up and dart through for the second score for the green shirts. 12-0 ahead and two more class tries to complete the first quarter and Wigton stood 26-0 ahead with a bonus point already in the bag. It can be truthfully said that the rest of the game went in the visitors direction but second half scores by Graham Andrews with a Clegg conversion and then a good wing-forward try from Jonker were not enough for the black/reds and Wigton emerged triumphant and with the Cumbrian bragging rights.

Only three matches played but all of them close affairs.

This column wishes to thank all correspondents for their help in compiling a weekly note and wish all in North 1 West grateful seasons greetings and a happy 2012.

Week 14 December 10th
Some defining results from this week with Sandbach completing the double over LSH being the big result at the top while Aspatria and Wilmslow both won well against Wirral and Northwich respectively. We lost two matches to the weather at Leigh and Widnes and we also had our second draw this season when Rochdale and Vale of Lune picked up a couple of pouints each in a 20-20 nailbiter. Carlisle move closer to mid table with a good win against Anselmians but ‘The Saints’ will have considered this one a possible win before travelling and won't like the 5 point gap above them.
Sandbach open up a 12 point lead over LSH and 14 over Widnes who now have a game in hand. With Northwich falling away, the honours look to be heading to the 3 already established at the top. Long way to go yet but Sandbach have played most of their tough away games and they will surely not lose more than 4 from their outstanding dozen matches.
Aspatria register their second win and get close up to neighbours Wigton who they visit this coming Saturday. Carlisle move 5 points ahead of Anselmians in the fight to keep clear of the trapdoor.

Aspatria 17-15 Wirral
A cliff hanger decided by a very late penalty try to the home side and long discussions afterwards but the result stands and aspatria chalk up their second win of the season. The home lads were down and almost out after tries by Wirrals Danny Harvey and Dave Doneo with Craig Harvey adding a conversion and a penalty. For Aspatria it was looking as if a try from Miller and Cleggs conversion and penalty would be all for nought but the last plays of the match turned everything on its head. A succession of attacking moves and a collapsed scrum and referee Ash gave the PT. Clegg converted and the final whistle sounded. Much discussion afterwards about no prior warnings on the one side and repeated offences on t'other but the result stood.

Rochdale 20-20 Vale of Lune
Another nail biter with Rochdale 20-15 ahead with 15 to play but a bad injury meant that play was adjourned to the dressing room for some time. With the injured safely off to hospital the game resumed and Vale got the levelling try but couldn't snatch the victory that the conversion would have meant. A fair result under the circumstances perhaps and a floodlit final session that saw the cold spectators spill out of the warm clubhouse to applaud the gladiators. Both of Rochdale's tries came from Neave with Bradwell kicking 2conversions and a couple of penalties while Danny Lin and Moore both scored for Vale before that late Macluskie equaliser late into the evening. Carter bagged a conversion and a penalty for the visitors.

Wilmslow 29-11 Northwich
Northwich were out of the blocks quicker with an Hallam penalty and a Joel Barber try. While Hallam was to add another penalty for the visitors the Wilmslow try machine re-emerged after a slow season. Ben Day, Rayner, King and Black got the 4 tries that gave the home side a bonus point while MacCallum added three conversions and a penalty for good measure. Wilmslow should not go down on this form and equally, Northwich will not go up.

Carlisle 25-10 Anselmians
It was Carlisle who triumphed in this lower region battle and in doing so they put a little daylight between the sides in the league table. After Weightman and Mason exchanged penalties it was Carlisle that did the scoring with tries from Brodie and a brace from Boyd. Weightman kicked a further penalty and a couple of conversions. Gerard scored Anselmians try that Mason duly converted. The play of the City centre Little seems to have added stability and direction to Carlisle,s play after a poor start to the campaign. They travel to Vale of Lune this week-end

Sandbach 43-19 Liverpool St Helen's 
And so to the tie of the week-end with the leaders notching an impressive 5 tries against the LSH defence. A bit of a rough-house with one exchange seeing 2 yellows apiece and just before the end, a red one for LSH. It was a very quick start by the home side that saw them go 15-0 ahead and then stretch out to a 21.12 half way lead. Phil Kearns for LSH had another strong game but Sandbach were too hot on the day and 2 tries by Verbikas, one for sub Beale plus two from Caen saw the leaders home. Will Cargill kicked 3 conversions and 4 penalties to complete a satisfying 43 point count. Kearns apart it was scrappy for the visitors who had plenty of possession but on the day their scores from Cunliffe, McLurg and Kearns were not going to deny Sandbach their victory.

Difficult to see who will stop our leaders now and it is no certainty that LSH will fight off the Widnes challenge for the promotion spot either.

Week 13 December 3rd
A mixed bag of results to complete the first half of this seasons campaign with the victory for Widnes at LSH probably the highlight. Wigton won well against Wilmslow and Aspatria scored 5 tries at Powderhouse Lane in a valiant, but losing, match with Vale of Lune. Leaders Sandbach did not trip up at Carlisle and Rochdale continued their decent home form with a victory over Anselmians. Leigh's pack took them to a fine away victory at Wirral and Northwich nearly gave up a big lead at Broughton Park.

Liverpool St Helen's 17-34 Widnes.
Proof positive that Widnes are serious contenders for promotion with this clinical away win at Moss Lane. Playing downwind Leadbetter gave the visitors a 3 point early advantage but it was not until the 20 min mark that the scoring resumed. Widnes flanker Liku crossed and then Andrew Riley got a corker for the visitors. Prop Borg added another and LSH with only a Matt Cunliffe penalty to show were 3-22 down at the break. The home side set about the second period with a purpose and were rewarded with a a good try. The ever dangerous Phil Kearns broke and flanker Paul Bamber was where a good flanker ought to be-on his shoulder to score. The LSH cause took a quick set back however when the effervescent Matty Smith kicked through and chased down himself to score the 4th Widnes try. John Pape reduced the arrears for LSH but Kevin Leadbetter had the last word for the rampant visitors with a breakaway effort from distance. Good win for Widnes and it opens up matters considerably at the top.

Wirral 22-33 Leigh
This was a dominating performance by the Leigh pack who did not quite snuff out the Wirral backs but they did control much of the possession and territory. A couple of early penalties for Leigh's Forshaw was answered by a Wirral try from Danny Harvey but the Leigh pack were going through the phases with pick and drive tactics that were becoming very effective. Calvin Crompton the Leigh no 8 bullocked over to give the visitors a 5-11 lead but Wirral responded when a tap penalty was run in by Craig Harvey after clever work from Broadbent. Harvey converted his own try to take the lead. Atkinson got his first league try of the season for Wirral who led 17-11 at the break.
> Leigh now had the use of the strong wind and opted to kick for the corners and allow their pack some attacking options. From a firm passage of play by Leigh the Wirral forward Hughes was awarded a 10 min break and Leigh took the scrum. Adam Tyson went blind side to score wide and Forshaw converted well before knocking over a long penalty to take the visitors into a 17-21 lead. The Leigh pack rumbled forward ominously and Millard was last up to claim the try before the marauding Crompton claimed his second try for the visitors. Final word to Wirrals Rob Pearl who scored well but the final score of 22-33 was a fair reflection of the match. Leigh take closer order at the top end but often frustrate their connections with periods of inconsistency.

Broughton Park 27-28 Northwich
This fixture last season saw the Cheshire side score more than 60 points but Park were defending an unblemished home record this term. Northwich will have been disappointed with a wind assisted lead at half time, crossing over 3-8 after a Sam Naylor try and a Hallam penalty. Park, who had just a Ronan O Brien penalty on the board were more than happy as they got the second half under way. The defining moment came when Mike Mudd for Park found himself yellow carded and Northwich scored twice through Chris Courtnage and a second for Northwich skipper Naylor. Hallam, for the visitors kept the board rolling with a conversion, field goal and a penalty against an O Brien penalty and at 6-28 ahead with 20 mins to go it was just a matter of registering the 4th try. Not so. Park responded with a cracking patch of play that yielded tries from Duffy, Barlow and Jake Smith all of which were improved by the trusty boot of O Brien and the home side were within a point. Too little, too late as Northwich ran the clock down but exciting for cold spectators.

Vale of Lune 50-27 Aspatria.
8 tries and 50 points for Vale might have been expected but 5 tries for the Aspatria lads might not. Lots of tries and a gutsy performance from the Cumbrians but outclassed for much of the match. 3 converted tries in the first 16 minutes from Vale's Moore, Hodder and Ball was then followed by over an hour when Aspatria scored 27 points against a further 29 by their hosts so much more even. Further Vale scores by Hodder, Wilson with a super solo effort were answered by Aspatrias Jonker and Adam Birkett for a HT position of 35-15. Second half scorers were prop Morrison, ball and Hodder for Vale and Aspatrias Birkett and Mike Fagan. Carters boot was generally put to good work for Vale and Aspatria will register better results if they continue to play as well as this.

Carlisle 11 - Sandbach 28
A match that started under floodlights saw the league leaders continue their promotion challenge in a match that could have been a banana skin.With the wind at their backs in the 1st half, Carlisle piled on the pressure, using their huge 2nd row Calum Rowlandson as a battering ram against the Sandbach defence. Penalties were exchanged in the first 10 minutes and Carlisle won another penalty to take a 6-3 lead after the first 20 minutes. Sandbach are nothing but astute at reading the game this season and adjusted their game plan. Avoiding the home pack yielded the desired results. Richard Murray, was first to benefit from this change of tactics as he caught Will Cargill's inch perfect crossfield kick and touched down near the posts. Cargill, converted to take the extra 2 points. An exchange of penalties saw the visitors leading by 16 points to 6 at the break.

Playing with the wind in the second half, Sandbach continued their tactic of kicking behind the Carlisle defence to pin the home side in their own half. A grubber kick through by Simon Verbickas allowed Jack Leech to kick ahead, outpace his winger and skilfully score in the corner. Verbickas was calling the plays well but the impressive Carlisle pack managed to work their way upfield and camp on the Sandbach 5 metre line for nearly 10 minutes. Passionate defence from Sandbach denied the home team, as eventually a massive kick from Benny Elliott pushed the Cumbrians back in their 22. A further penalty from Cargill put daylight between the two sides. Continuing to press the "kick and turn them" tactic, winger Richard Murray pushed a weighted grubber through to Jack Leech, who scored his second with Cargill converting. Carlisle’s evergreen Simon Little, broke the Sandbach cover, slipped the ball to Lewis Boyd, who duly ran half the pitch to score a consolation try for the home side. Final score 11-28. Sandbach are now 7 points clear with a visit from LSH to come this week end. Another win could really cement the leaders spot for the Cheshire outfit.

Wigton 17-7 Wilmslow
Wilmslow are still searching for an away win after succumbing to a spirited Wigton performance in the wind and rain of Cumbria.frgus Leadingham scored well for Wigton and GHreg Smith conveerted and then kicked a penalty to put the home side 10-0 ahead. With the elements in their favour a ten point defecit did not look beyond the visitors but a yellow card for each side after handbags swinging in the wind seemed to unsettle the visitors more and Richard Moffatt scred for Wigton with Smith improving. replacements from the Wilmslow bench steadied the ship and eventually Walker scored to conclude the days events. Good home win for Wigton.

Rochdale 29-13 Anselmians
Anselmians replied to a good opening Rochdale try with a penalty but Rochdale went further ahead with a further try that once again The Saints could only answer with a Mason 3 pointer. Helleir scored a saints try with Mason converting but two further Rochdale tries and a penalty saw the homesters to a good victory that keeps them above the turmoil beneath.

Week 12 November 19th
Top marks to Liverpool St Helens who won well just down the East Lancs Road at Leigh, registering a good 12-32 victory to keep leaders Sandbach well within their sights. LSH are generally edging tight games this term and are looking to improve upon last season’s 3^rd placed spot. Meanwhile our leaders Sandbach gave their visitors Rochdale the once over, winning 29-5 at Bradwall Road and claimed a 4 try bonus. Northwich saw their Cumbrian visitors Wigton off comfortably by 36-10 at Moss Farm where Hallam moved to stand-off after Cass Wilding reported unfit. King and Barber claimed the best of the home tries. Wirral travelled down to Wilmslow who are not having their best season at this level. The “Wolves” from Wilmslow however triumphed with a splendidly entertaining 34-18 victory. Third placed Widnes were ready for a tough one against visitors Vale of Lune. As matters turned out the game went to form as Widnes romped home 34-21 with Gareth Riley getting two, Liku one and Andrew Riley also one. Hadden and Morrison replied for Vale. Anselmians earned themselves a little space at the bottom with a perhaps surprising win over Broughton Park 25-17 in a tight match at the Saints ground. Finally, to Cumbria, where both Aspatria and Carlisle were desperately seeking the points. After a nail-biting 80 minutes it was the visitors, Carlisle who emerged victors 22-28. Carlisle’s victory and also that of Anselmians puts a little more daylight between these two and bottom pair Aspatria and Wigton. With Wilmslow winning, Rochdale will also be looking anxiously over their shoulders. Sandbach at the top continue to look comfortable.

Aspatria 22-28 Carlisle
Tight at the bottom but make no mistake this was a big win in league terms for the visitors. Home side tries came from Tinnion, Jonke and Preston while Clegg kicked two conversioins and a penalty. Carlisle scorers were Little, Hughes and Minett but, vitally, they had two conversions and 3 penalties for Weightmann to enjoy.

Widnes 34-21 Vale of Lune
As matters finished, the margin of victory was 13 points and Widnes 13-6 ahead for the home side at half time after penalties either way and an Andrew Riley try for Widnes. The second half saw Widnes survive a Vale fight back but tries by Leadbetter, G Riley and Liku with a late one were enough on the day. Leadbetter kicked 4 conversions and 2 penalties in all while Vales try scorers were centre Bird and hooker Berry. Carter was kicking for the Vale and added 3 penalties to one conversion.

Leigh 12-32 Liverpool St Helens
LSH recorded a good victory at close neighbours Leigh. Tries by hooker Ince and Centre Eccles were not enough to see the Leigh side home as LSH scored 4 through Dave Cunliffe, Williams, McClurg and Burrows. The other Cunliffe knocked over 3 conversions and two penalties while Leighs Tom Forshaw managed one conversion. One feels that LSH are doing all that they can at this stage and they have had good results away from home while appearing to be able to win with ease at home.

Sandbach 29-5 Rochdale
Sandbach were in no mood to allow the fast moving Rochdale backs get possession and ran away with this match after tries from Leech (2), Murray, Beesley and number 8 Jackson. kicking duties were once again shared with Cargill and Elliot  kicking a conversion each. Rochdale second row, Tom Helliwell registered his sides only score with a well taken try.

Northwich 36-10 Wigton
The home side had a good day against a Wigton side that beat Northwich up at Wigton at the end of last season. Two notable tries here as Joel Barber and Dan King ran from one end to the other to score tries for the home side. Ryan Mckibben, Sam Naylor and Chris Dale were the other home scorers and Hallam kicked 4 conversions and a penalty. Dan Reed kicked a penalty after the break and a 70 min try from Ryan clarke for the greens was again converted well by Reed,

Anselmians 25-17 Broughton Park
The Saints took a notable scalp here and managed to keep themselves in the battle to fight clear of the drop zone along the way. Broughton Park are a very good side but prone to the occasional wobble away from Hough End. It was Park that went ahead through a penalty from Ronan O'Brien and the visitors went further ahead with a Titiloye try that O'Brien was able to improve. 0-10 and looking good for the Manchester side. Not so as Anselmians scored the next 25 points through a Mason penalty then a second half interception try from Mafe once again converted by Mason. Nick Hearn scored from a forwards move for Saints and then the inventive Mason dropped a goal to put the home side 18-10 ahead. Mafe got a good powerful try when under pressure from all and sundry and Mason put the home side 25-10 ahead. Park had the last word when Titiloye took a half chance to score well and O'Brien once again converted. Its getting tight above the bottom two sides now.

Wilmslow 34-18 Wirral
Wirral were coming off a narrow victory against Northwich and Wilmslow a narrow defeat at LSH so both teams will have fancied their chances. As matters unfolded the home side triumphed after tries from Tait (2) Black and Rodman. the reliable boot of MacCallum converted all 4 tries and added a couple of penalties for good measure. Danny Harvey and Joe Murray were once again Wirral scorers while outside centre Craig Harvey converted one of the tries and added a couple of penalties of his own. A good match to watch apparently.

After a vacant league Saturday this week the final match of the first half will take place 3rd December.

Week 11 November 12th
Once again a very tight set of results with 5 out of 7 losing clubs picking up a bonus point. At the top however, a gap has opened up between the two leaders -Sandbach & LSH- and the chasing pack. Beneath the top two, there are just 6 points covering 3rd to 8th places. At the other end of the table the City of Carlisle recorded their 4th win of the campaign and they do not look like relegation candidates on current form. This column begs to suggest that 7 or 8 wins in the season should see any of these clubs safe-assuming that there are no deductions. With two more fixtures to play in the 1st half of the season, club committees will be considering their second half options because 2 or 3 results could still transform league positions in a tighter than normal season.

Carlisle 20-13 Widnes
Carlisle won this match on a good day for rugby in Carlisle and indeed across the region. 3rd placed Widnes are proving the surprise package this term and this was a match where the result was in the balance until the final whistle. Widnes got onto the board early with a Leadbetter penalty and on 20 minutes they scored a beautiful try when a scrum on their own 22 gave an opportunity for a long Matty Smith break down the wing and an inside pass saw the stand-off Leadbetter cross and then convert. The match was proceeding, at that stage, according to league position. Carlisle responded positively through their pack that increasingly dominated and Weightman reduced the deficit by kicking one of several penalties on offer. With 5 minutes of the half to play the Carlisle full back James Rocke went over and the Weightman conversion gave the home side a 10-8 lead at the break. Second half errors were creeping into the Widnes game and the Carlisle pack continued to control play without real threat to the visitors line. With 10 minutes to play, the Carlisle forwards did threaten and were camped in the Widnes 5 metre zone and several attacking scrums were infringed by the visitors. Finally, the inevitable penalty-try was awarded and a yellow card produced. A further penalty by Weightman saw the home side 20-8 ahead and just a couple of minutes to go. On a rare visit to the home half, Matty Smith found a way to cross for Widnes. Then amazingly, the visitors regained possession from the restart to see Andrew Riley run clear but as it turned out the pass had been ruled forward and the whistle blew.

Liverpool St Helens 18-13 Wilmslow
LSH made heavy weather of defeating Wilmslow who could so easily have won this contest, given that they enjoyed as much territorial and possessional play as their Moss Lane hosts. The LSH faithful will say that winning when they are off-colour is the right sort of problem to have, and their record confirms this view. LSH were first to show and their forwards took control of the set pieces throughout. After 13 minutes the visitors really should have gone ahead when a killing pass was knocked on with the line beckoning. Wilmslow did eventually take the lead after half an hour when Tom Rayner finished off a quick counter attack and MacCallum converted. MacCallum was causing the LSH some problems with a number of cross kicks behind the LSH back line. The dominant home pack finally drove across the visitors line after 35 mins for No 8 Kearns to score. Cunliffe could not convert but did kick a penalty to give his side an 8-7 lead at the break. A moment of brilliance from LSH's McClurg just 4 mins into the second half was going to be enough in the event as he sidestepped and dodged over from 25 metres out and Cunliffe converted. Wilmslow were having plenty of second half possession and another overlapping pass did not go to hand when a score looked possible. At this stage MacCallum had 4 penalty attempts of which just two were successful to bring the visitors to 15-13. On the stroke of time Cunliffe put the result beyond doubt with a further penalty.

Rochdale 29-16 Aspatria
The Aspatria connections had no complaints after going down to a lively Rochdale side on a good day for rugby. Rochdale went ahead after only 4 minutes with a good backs try but the visitors clawed their way back to 7-6 after two long range Clegg penalties. Two more Rochdale tries came after very good play among their backs who moved up through the gears and through the visiting defence fairly comfortably. Clegg kicked another penalty for the visitors and after half an hour the score of 19-9 was a fair reflextion of the play. Aspatria themselves started to play more adventurously and this was rewarded as Mark Lister  was on the end of some smart handling to go in under the posts and 19-16 looked much better. Rochdale however got their forwards going and  rumbled over to register a 4 try bonus point to keep their average up and to lead 24-16 at the break. After an hour the same Rochdale pack repeated their part piece by once again rolling across the Aspatria line to complete the scoring. The Cumbrians look in trouble with a 10 point gap between them and 4th from bottom Carlisle.

Sandbach 60-8 Anselmians
Sandbach changed over 15-3 ahead after Cargill, Elliot and Smith scored tries for the home side and Mason had kicked the visitors only 3 points. Anselmians' experienced pack had a lot of possession during the game but Sandbach were always sharper out wide. Cargill, the home skipper found that each of his first half conversion attempt was from the sidelines. The home side altered tactics in the second period and the cultured boot of Cargill was kicking into space and away from the heavier Saints forwards. The tactic was executed with deadly precision and Jackson scored after good work by Burton and then came a mini deluge as Smith, Burton and Massey all scored running tries for the rampant Cheshire outfit. Cargill called it a day after missing his first five conversion attempts and the former Winnington Park full back Ben Elliot promptly kicked the next five successfully. Anselmians No 8 Tupoa scored from a push-over but Smith, Burton and Herd all scored late home tries to complete the route. It is looking good for the Cheshire lads at this stage.

Vale of Lune 28-20 Leigh
Vale of Lune versus Leigh conjures up a vision of WW3 to the impartial observer. An unsuspecting referree, Mike Hayward had arrived to take control of the Vale second team match versus Ashton-on-Mersey. Carl Hall, the appointed official, pulled up lame in his warm up before the match and Mr Hayward kindly agreed to step up to the mark. He was to have a busy day, but went about his task with great competence in a match that started 10 minutes late.

Jimmy Moore for the home side intercepted a pass well in his own half and after a little ball juggling he ran home from 70 metres and had enough gas left to kick the conversion. Moore kicked a penalty and then prop James Hesketh scored well after a good line out move by Vale. Mr Hayward needed to bring the captains together for a discussion about "ungentlemanly conduct" as the first period boiled over. Peter Ince the Leigh hooker then scored before Tom Forshaw added a second that also resulted in a yellow for Vale's Lee Acton. Curran for Vale crossed after great work from Ball but Ince closed the half for Leigh with another try from a driving maul. Leigh were looking quite capable of winning this encounter at the break but Moore licked 42nd and 63rd minute penalties to relieve pressure on the home side. Forshaw kickad a penalty and then a good half back move by Leigh saw winger Ross Shepherd cross wide out. More boisterous exchanges saw to it that Mr Hayward was once again active and a prop from either side took a break. The scrums were then uncontested -not much else on the day had been uncontested-but the clock ran down through much added time to give the home side a "hard fought" victory.

Wigton 19-24 Broughton Park
The travelling Park supporters were in high spirits as they arrived at picturesque Wigton. Park started well and Titiloye crossed in the corner after a strong run with O'Brien converting well from wide out. Wigton had a good strong pack on the day and a rolling maul was too difficult to stop legally and a penalty try was awarded when it was deliberately pulled down. Easy conversion and 7-7. Duffy and Titiloye for Park combined well to allow the visitors to go ahead and once again O'Brien converted a difficult kick. A yellow card brought Park down to 14 players and the Wigton pack rolled over for a second try but O'Brien kicked a penalty and then Titiloye finished off a splendid 40m Thomas break HT 12-24. Again the Wigton forwards drove over and the score was 19-24 with 20 minutes to play. As the clock ran down Wigton had their tails up and yellow followed yellow, followed yellow for Park in the final 10 minutes. With just 12 men on the pitch. the visitors managed to hold out for a hard won victory.

Wirral 20-19 Northwich
And finally to Clatterbridge where Northwich were visiting their long term rivals. It was loose Northwich play after 10 minutes which allowed Craig Harvey to score for Wirral in the corner. Harvey converted very well from the touchline. Northwich responded and outside centre Hallam finished off a good attack to cross near the posts and to also improve upon his own try. Yet another sloppy piece of defending against a smart, opportunist move by Wirrals Joe Murray saw the home team double their lead when Murrays effort was once again converted by Harvey from a difficult angle. At 14-7 ahead at the break the match was not beyond the visitors and, even when Harvey knocked over two well struck penalties to stretch the lead to 20-7, it was never over because the visitors always looked dangerous going forward.  Dan King, returning from inury for Northwich, had come off the bench for the visitors and made an immediate impression with a couple of typically strong runs. It was King who found himself close enough to a Northwich maul to get the finishing touch and pull the visitors back to within a converted try. With 5 minutes left Hallam for Northwich yet again found an overlap after great work by Barber and touched down a metre in from the corner. 20-19 and the conversion to come. It was missed, but the last chapter was still to be played out as visiting hooker Chris James once again made good ground and a penalty was awarded 35m out and nearly half way in from the touchline. Again the kick went wide and Wirral had won by a single point. On the day Wirral kicked their chances and deserved their victory for that reason. Northwich look destined once again to be the bridesmaids.

Sandbach look ominously comfortable at the head of the table. Simon Verbikas their experienced player coach has been in charge for a couple of seasons and Cargill is not a new boy either. A couple of closed season recruits maybe but it seems as if good old fashioned team work is the recipe for their success. They will do well if they hold off the challenge of LSH through the Winter months.

Week 10 November 5th
Unusual to report that correspondents this week took to a very literary tone with comments such as "The pale November sunshine seemingly merging with the golden autumn plumage of the Styal woods". From elsewhere the "Autumn sun was going down over the Solway Firth" with accompanying notes that almost paralleled those of Wordsworth. Perhaps Wordsworth will have his day when the Spring daffodils flower.
Down on the Costa del Weaver, Northwich just about registered a victory over Liverpool St Helens 13-12 in an uncompromising match with very few errors, no nonsense and a lot of effort. The visitors edged the first half and the home side left it very late to score their winner.
Up near the aforesaid Solway Firth, Aspatria were putting up a good first half show against high flying Sandbach but succumbed to good rugby by the Cheshire lads who ended 10-40 victors. Over on the Wirral, Anselmians had a must-win home match against visitors Wigton. Win they did, and by a margin of 39-17 as well. At nearby Widnes, the new boys just about got across the finishing line by 12-7 against visitors Rochdale in a hard, uncompromising contest. Another good weather report from Manchester where Broughton Park resisted a late charge by visitors Wirral to win 29-25. A further close match at Leigh where The home side won 28-24 against an improving Carlisle outfit. Finally back to the Styal woodlands and an excellent win for Wilmslow 35-27 against Vale of Lune who's form is variable to say the least.
So, Sandbach go top again and Aspatria, Wigton and Carlisle are filling the bottom 3 places. Leigh and Rochdale continue to pile up those important bonus points with 9 each.

Northwich 13-12 Liverpool St Helens
It was a splendid advert for rugby down at Moss Farm Northwich where a big crowd assembled for the clash with Liverpool St Helens. LSH went ahead with a very good interception by Ian Stanley to race away from 60m. Barber for Northwich reeled Stanley in but not before the LSH try machine crossed near the posts. Matt Cunliffe converted. LSH possibly edged the half overall but sustained more penalties than the home side who seemingly had  "do not infringe" branded onto their foreheads before the game. There were no more 1st half scores despite good running rugby from both sides. HT 0-7. The second half continued in the same mode with the two sets of back rows putting in a really hard day at the coalface. Cass Wilding, the Northwich stand-off, fielded a clearance, evaded a couple of tackles before interchanging passes with winger Courtnedge and running in well to get the home side on the score sheet. The kick was wide. After very good play by the LSH back row, Matt Cunliffe broke away, straightened up the defence, drew his man and sent Ian Stanley away for a second try wide out. Classic stuff and excellent rugby. Hallam at the other end got 3 points back when he kicked a long penalty to make the score 8-12. It stayed at 8-12 for almost the rest of the half. Walding then kicked into space at the corner with a couple of minutes or so to go. A Northwich maul formed and rolled and writhed into the LSH 5m area. The home side committed a centre and a winger to the maul. LSH countered similarly, but the maul moved inexorably towards the LSH line. 50 or so LSH supporters willed the defence to hold. 250 or so Northwich souls pressed forward as if to lend a shoulder to the cause. Inevitably, hooker Chris James administered the final "coup de gras" and buttocks were unclenched around the ground in what was to be virtually the last play of the match.  A crunching game with no cards and a very good sporting contest to watch. 2 tries each and two kicks each. There is never much between these sides but LSH look to have all of the necessary mix of power, style and speed to go up this season while Northwich need to find some away form if they are to challenge for honours.

Broughton Park 29-25 Wirral
Another closely contested match where visitors Wirral started better and went 7-0 ahead after Danny Harvey scored from brother Craig's good work. The conversion was kicked and shortly afterwards Craig Harvey converted his own try following a 60m break by Annetts 0-14 to Wirral and less than 20 minutes gone. Broughton Park had kept their shape and were rewarded when Duffy was left alone on the left wing to cross wide out. 5-14 and Park were taking much more interest in the game. A long break by Park's centre and a good continuation saw Ronan O' Brien go in and then convert to make it 12-14. Andy Wilson took Park ahead for the first time with a smart touch down after a line out misunderstanding but Harvey kicked another penalty to bring the half time scores level at 17-17.

Duffy for Park once again found space to cross and then Andy Wilson got his second after a Park push-over and the home side had stretched their lead to 29-17. Neutrals could be forgiven for expecting Park to run away with the game at that stage but Wirral have plenty of guts and a lot of talent. From a quick Murray tap penalty, Broadbent cut loose for Wirral and ran 40m before being caught by the Park defence, a clever popped pass by Broadbent however saw Pearl go over and with an hour gone Wirral were 29-22 behind but getting back on the front foot. Harvey kicked another penalty for the visitors and at 29-25 it was still anybody's game. To their credit the Park defence held out well in a tense final 10 minutes and there was no more scores.

Leigh 28-24 Carlisle.
For long periods of the second half Carlisle looked unlikely winners of this tight match with their forwards taking advantage of good half back kicking. Leigh were to win because, after an early Dyson try, Paul Wilcox scored the rest of the 23 points. Wilcox has been playing for Rossendale and Sedgley Park until Leigh signed him together with Chris Houlton (ex LSH front row) for this season. Looks a good piece of business on this, and early match results.  After Dyson's early try for Leigh and a Wilcox penalty put them 10-0 ahead Carlisle woke up and Josh Holmes crossed and then Weightman kicked a penalty. Wilcox responded with a 3 pointer but then Carlisle scored a try through Simon Little and Weightman took Carlisle to an 18-13 half time lead. With the match not going quite to the Leigh script the half time oranges were no doubt accompanied by plenty of "tongue pie" by the coaching staff. Wilcox responded with a try to draw level but a couple of Carlisle penalties saw the visitors go ahead and at 18-24 they looked in control albeit that their dominance at this stage might have resulted in even more points.

Forshaw broke for Leigh after their pack was freshened up by the bench and the forwards took the game onward until the ball was finally channelled out to the ever present Wilcox who had no trouble converting his own try. 28-24 the final score and both sets of coaches will find plenty to work upon mid week.

Widnes 12-7 Rochdale
Yet another tight match. A first half Rochdale try by Tom Andrews was converted by Ollie Coldman and was probably against the run of play at that stage. A Kevin Leadbetter score was as an indirect result of the Rochdale forwards deciding to try to run the ball from out of their in-goal area. The sides turned around 5-7.  The second half was much of the same with the Widnes defence holding out against the improving Rochdale pack and their fast running backs. Rochdale had a lot of territorial advantage for long periods of this match but there were missed penalties as well, and it was to prove costly. As so often the case, and against the run of play, Widnes broke through Matty Smith after a 20m drop out with Smith going the distance to score and Leadbetter converted FT 12-7. On the day the injury hit Widnes will be happy with the 4 points but Rochdale will regret not turning good possession and territorial advantages into points.

Wilmslow 35-27 Vale of Lune
Which Vale will turn up today is the perennial question. After Wilmslow's Bob MacCallum kicked a field goal to get the scoreboard ticking over and Woodward replied with a penalty the Vale team that plays brilliant rugby certainly turned up. In one of those purple patches of 20 mins or so, Vale ran amok. They scored from a mid field line out when lock Lee Acton peeled off to run in almost unopposed. Tom Ball was next on the score sheet for Vale after a Moore kick to the corner was collected by the Wilmslow cover but then turned over for Vale to capitalise. More pain was to follow for the home side when the energy charged Jimmy Moore turned inside instead of passing wide and after a loop found himself with 50m of wide open Wilmslow countryside between him and the line. Great piece of individual play from the Vale half back. MacCallum kicked a penalty to take a little heat off the shell shocked Wilmslow team. That heat was to return just before the break when war broke out and handbags were flying across the park. The ref Simon Murray, who has experience in the field of bad boys, awarded a Vale penalty before bringing the half to a close. HT 6-24

Wilmslow appeared to be inspired after the break and Tom Raynor scored well allowing MacCallum to improve the score. Hodder kicked an easy penalty for Vale but Wilmslow found some good form and a trundling forwards drive saw prop Sam Rodman rise beaming from the try line. Again the trusty boot of MacCallum added 2 more. Rodman was next onto the sheet after a splendid Wilmslow backs move where Ben Day provided the space for Rodman to cross and MacCallum brought the home side to within two points. MacCallum took Wilmslow ahead with a penalty as Vale were suddenly all fingers and thumbs. The last rites were performed when Wilmslow's Raynor crossed and the reverent MacCallum brought the game to a close. Exciting stuff and yet another tight match in a tight week. The Wilmslow faithful can go back to their hedge-funds and futures-trading knowing that the lads have moved a little further away from trouble.

Anselmians 39-17 Wigton
Not quite as tight as previous matches but a vital win for The Saints against a Wigton side that flatter to deceive again this season. Anselmians had a couple of injured players returning and started much more confidently. Petterson made good ground before looping a pass for Mahe Pepe to cross wide out. Paul Kay increased the home lead and Simon Mason converted 12-0. Pepe once again crossed for The Saints and at 19-0 they were cruising. Wigton started to get into the match and scored well before Pennington for Anselmians crossed once again. Mason improved the score and the home side changed ends 26-5 ahead.

A couple of early Mason penalties took the home side out of range but Wigton came back with a converted try of their own and then scored another 32-17. Petterson had the last word for the home side and with the Mason conversion sailing between the posts the 39-17 full time score was probably a fair reflection of the match.

Aspatria 10-40 Sandbach
And so to the beautiful Cumbrian countryside near to the Solway Firth where Sandbach made the long trip from junction 17 of the M6 northwards. At half time they were 11-10 ahead but in a scintillating second period they scored a further 29 unanswered point. Jack Clegg kicked a good early penalty from distance for the home side but Murray crossed the Aspatria line to touch down for Sandbach to lead 3-5. After 30 minutes Aspatria hacked ahead a loose ruck ball and Askew and Tinnion combined for Tinnion to score and Clegg added the extras. With the home side ahead and looking dangerous Sandbach chose to kick two penalties before the end of the half to bring the score to 10-11. A hitherto strangly quiet Sandbach pack seemed to wake up in the second period and firstly a classic Number 8 try by Seddon and then a couple of strikes against the head for Sandbach gave them a sense of purpose. 3 more tries followed through Leech, Murray and Massey to get to 10-35. In a final flourish Richard Murray scored a great 6th try for the visitors and his third, FT 10-40.

Events elsewhere were duly relayed to the Aspatria bar and Sandbach travelled back to Junction 17 as worthy league leaders.

Week 9 October 29th
Sandbach recovered from the hiccup against Leigh by beating in form Widnes at Bradwall Road. Liverpool St Helens were also good winners against visitors Broughton Park while Vale of Lune ran in 4 tries against much fancied Northwich who look jaded away from Moss Farm. The first draw of the season in this league occurred at Aspatria where visitors Anselmians took away a couple of points. Carlisle beat Wilmslow and move to within a point of the days opponents and just above the relegation places. Last week Leigh beat Sandbach but this week they lost away at Rochdale. The Leigh faithful will reflect upon the slender differences between success and a pointless week-end. Wirral  go quietly about their business, and duly recorded a good win at home to Wigton. LSH still lead Sandbach by two points but Widnes and Northwich fall away. Carlisle climb out of the bottom three after their third win in the last four fixtures.

Aspatria 14-14 Anselmians
This was as tight as they come. The visitors had a lot of early territory but it was Aspatria who scored when winger Tinnion went blind-side to cross after a catch and drive. Anselmians continued to control, with the elements in their favour, and centre Mafe found a gap to score to bring the scores level. An exchange of penalties brought the half to a close with Clegg landing a prodigeous penalty against the howling wind with no time left. Simon Mason, back from injury, had notched the Saints 3 pointer. HT 8-8. Aspatria might have expected to dominate the second half and their forwards did indeed exert pressure but without reward. It was Anselmians who broke from defence to press the home line and force a penalty in front of the posts. Mason knocked it over to lead 8-11. Clegg levelled with a long distance penalty. Mason knocked another over and once again -with no time left on the clock -Clegg equalised 14-14. It will be interesting to see if Simon Mason's return will herald a change in the fortunes of this Saints side.
Carlisle 17-0 Wilmslow
The Carlisle connections will be satisfied that they took the points on the day but reports suggest that they might have had more. Carlisle went into the second half just 5-0 ahead after their big lock Rowlandson scored an unconverted try. Wilmslow are a side that could be expected to take full advantage of a second half wind advantage but not so. It was Martin Brodie on the Carlisle wing who extended the lead for the Warwick Road side and then Rowlandson repeated his first half party-piece by carrying several defenders across the chalk to record his second, and Carlisles third try. Weightman converted to give his side quite a convincing win. Simon Little was back in the centres for Carlisle and perhaps his experience helped to calm down and settle colleagues. Wilmslow, like several other sides, are sruggling away from home but they need to consider their options now as they are now just a point ahead of their hosts and far too close to the bottom spots for comfort. 
Liverpool St Helens 33-7 Broughton Park.
The LSH Director of Rugby will reflect upon their best win over Broughton Park for some years as LSH stretch away from 3rd and 4th places with only Sandbach able to keep up the pace. First half tries by lock Mark Williams, prop Mark Fryer and winger Ian Stanley gave LSH a convincing half time lead of 19-0 and Williams touched down for his second shortly after the break for a bonus. Park came into the game and Titiloye broke blind-side off a maul to score. O'Brien converted but there was lille else for the visitors' faithful to cheer as Cunliffe crashed through for LSH and Worsley notching up his fourth conversion. LSH look set to go the distance this season and they will not be phased by heavier conditions in the Winter months.
Rochdale 25-15 Leigh
This was a difficult match to predict beforehand and Rochdale used home advantage to good effect. Little information in the public domain at present but it will have been a fascinating contest with Leighs big pack and Rochdales fast backs fighting for supremacy. Before this match both sides had registered 8 bonus points from 8 matches. Murphy's Law of course with no bonuses either way on the day.
Sandbach 47-24 Widnes
Sandbach moved through the gears to defeat promotion hopeful's Widnes at Bradwall Road. This was 2nd place versus their nearest challengers and the home side started well and soon had 8 popints on the board after a Davenport converted try and a further Cargill penalty. The dose was then repeated but this time it was Sandbachs Ali Burtron who took advantage of the catch and drive to cross and once again Cargill slotted over the conversion and than added a penalty. The Sandbach backs then combined to run in a fine try with Ben Elliot touching down. For the third time the home side's catch and drive resulted in a try. Ali Burton was once again in the right place to cross. Widnes did manage to go over before the break when Andrew Riley was put into acres of space to score. Sandbach connections have furthered the opinion that Widnes might have had something in their tea at the break. It was more likely to have been a good rollicking because they turned round like a team possesed. Matty Smith for Widnes ran in a hat trick of tries for the visitors in an excellent display of wing play and full back Hewlett for the visitors was causing havoc in the hitherto untroubled Sandbach defence. A measure of composure returned to the home side and nervous twitches among their faithful were replaced by broad smiles as first Elliot took a quick tap and scored before Stockdale ran in the final try of the day. Widnes were possibly unfortunate not to have taken even a losing point back home but Sandbach are proving to be more resilient this term.
Vale of Lune 31-5 Northwich
Yet another case of a team getting beaten on the road against another side that struggle themselves away from home. Northwich went from their biggest win to their heaviest defeat in the space of just 7 days when they were well beaten by 4 try Vale. First choice half back combination of Walding and Gallimore were out injured for the visitors but, to be fair, Vale also have their fair share of injuries. The early stages gave no sign of what was to come as Northwich started strongly but missed a penalty almost in front albeit against the wind. Even when Vale took the lead it was from a fortuitous kick forward and a sideways bounce that allowed the alert James Hodder to score. Woodward converted. Vale then seemed to realise that they had the fire power to win this match and when Woodward kicked a penalty the Vale were fully competing. The days best try followed when a splendid flowing move saw James Curran score well and Moore converted equally as well. HT 17-0. Northwich had the wind behind them now but their pick and go game tactics saw plenty of possession but very little penetration. After phase after phase on the Vale 5m line the Northwich prop Lawrence Cray finally crossed for their only score of the day. The rest of the match was Vale's. A missed tackle allowed No 8 Alex Tudor to power through close to the sticks and Moore converted. At the death Moore scored one of his own and knocked over the extra 2 points. Not many sides score 4 try bonus points against Northwich but Vale were very good value on the day.
Wirral 28-11 Wigton
A good win for Wirral against an improving Wigton side who seem capable of moving into mid table safety. Wigton went ahead through a try by Gregg Smith after a great break from Thomas Gardner. Further opportunities opened up for the visitors but they were unable to take advantage of greater possession and territory and also missed a kickable penalty. Against the run of play Wirral intercepted through Donaldson and after a 50m gallop, Atkinson took over and his offload in the tackle was capitalised upon by scorer Sam Broadbent. Wirral could now start to compete more strongly and prop Chris Hughes scored from broken play with Craig Harvey converting from the touch line. 2 further penalties each in the first half from Harvey and Hanabury and the home side changed over 18-11 ahead. Hanabury was an early departure after a recurring hamstring for Wigton and this loss was compounded when Deans for Wigton was sin-binned after an up-and-under and late tackle. Some debate about whether the lad could not pull out in time but the resultant penalty gave Wirral an easy 3 points. Tim Hodson for Wirral scored after the extra man in the pack took its toll on Wigton and Danny Harvey knocked over a good conversion from the sideline. No fourth try for Wirral but the Wigton defence looks to be quite sound so still a good result.
 

Week 8 October 22nd
Liverpool St Helens go top as Sandbach lost their unbeated record at Leigh. The local derby at Anselmians saw visitors Wirral triumph while Wilmslow pulled away from the relegation zone with a good win at home against Rochdale. The Northwich backs ran riot in a heavy win against visitors Carlisle and Widnes gave a below par Aspatria a 60-19 drubbing. Wigton went down with all guns blazing against visitors LSH but suffered a second half blitz from which there was no way back.
In the final match Broughton Park were entertaining Vale of Lune in a match between old established clubs with similar records this term. Park ran out winners by 27-20 on this occasion. It is interesting to note that just 5 points cover the top 5 clubs with bonuses playing a big part in keeping the gap tight.
 
Leigh 29-23 Sandbach 
It was not likely that many observers would have expected that Leigh would establish a 4 try to nil position well into the second half. Cargill got the Sandbach side on the board with an early penalty but a try by the Leigh winger Dyson (who has that great ability to get the job finished) started the Leigh proceedings, after the big Leigh pack won a heel against the head. Paul Wilcock converting from wide out. Leigh centre Eccles was the next to cross and there was then another Leigh penaltiy before half time during after time Sandbach came much more into the game. HT 15-3
The visitors began to press without much reward other than another Cargill penalty but then Leigh won good turnover ball and full back Wilcock made progress before putting Dyson free to score well. Wilcock took advantage of a good pass from Wood to cross the chalk and Leigh were notching up yet another bonus point  (8 from 8 games).
The tempo of the match was taking its toll on the big Leigh lads and substitutions and a yellow card for the aggressive flanker Middleton-Adams were the signal for a big Sandbach revival. Two converted tries from first Will Cargill and then Jerman were converted by Elliot and another Elliot penalty for the leaders saw the gap closed to just 6 points but the return of the home flanker just about saw the home side hang on. Highlight for Leigh was the second half appearance of Pete Nugent (DOB said to be late 1961). Pete will have seen a few mauls in his time and will have enjoyed the success. Sandbach managed the losing point and Stockdale the skipper had a splendid match despite the result.
Wilmslow 25-15 Rochdale A good win for Wilmslow who have been drifting along just above the relegation area after several early season reverses. Hooker Alex Donaldson scored for Wilmslow after just 8 minutes when a training ground lineout went precisely to plan. Rochdale however have a good set of backs and errors in home side decision making saw both visiting wingers score as first Tom Andrews and then Oliver Coldman gave the visitors a brief lead by 10-7. Matthew King just before the break and then James Keys 15 minutes into the second period touched down for the Wolves. Two Andy Walker penalties for Wilmslow kept them well ahead but Lou Freshou the Rochdale open-side broke from a scrum to score the visitors third. Wilmslow find themselves just a couple of points behind Rochdale who have recorded only two wins but 8 bonus points.

Widnes 60-19 Aspatria
Widnes dished out a beating to the Cumbrians who look to be struggling to get out a full, fit side at times this season. Three early tries for the homesters and two more shortly before the break saw the Widnes lads to a HT lead of 33-5. A Dave Preston try had given Aspatria some hope after 24 minutes but this was to be short lived. Widnes increased their lead after the break but Aspatria responded through Lee Askew. Four more Widnes tries with just one more for Aspatria through Mike Fagan who briefly gave the visitors hope of a 4 try bonus point. It was not to be, and the pace of the Widnes backs was just too much on the day. For the record, the Widnes scorers were Moss, Farrow (2) Smith (2) Lamb, Borg, Leadbetter, Welsh and Riley with Kevin Leadbetter knocking over 5 conversions 

Wigton 24-44 Liverpool St Helens Wigton managed to score 24 points against a well drilled LSH side who move smoothly into top spot after the Leigh/Sandbach result. At the half way break the score stood at 12-15 with everything to play for both teams. LSH went ahead after Dave Cunliffe had orchestrated tries for Ian Stanley, after just 2 minutes, and then sent Andy Dowell over. The Wigton stand-off Dave Hanabury scored the home sides 1st try after a good solo run. Dowell scored again for LSH but Wigtons captain Matthew Atkinson once again responded before the break. After the break came a deluge of 4 tries for the visitors and Wigton looked like being swamped. Dowell got his hat trick, then Holding chalked up his first for LSH. Matt Cunliffe got in on the action before prop Jan Lourens added another. Wigton were not done and Hanabury scored again. End to end stuff now and after the LSH No 9 Alex McClurg had added an eighth for the visitors, Hanabury scores Wigtons 4th and his 3rd try of the afternoon. Not many score 4 try bonus points against LSH.

Anselmians 17-36 Wirral
The near neighbours fought out a tough encounter at the Anselmians ground. A pre season cup match had finished with the home side winning by a single point but Wirral have had much the better start to their league campaign. It was Wirral who got onto the scoresheet first when Annets crossed close to the sticks for an unconverted try. The Saints replied when Loa Topou went blind from a scrum and just made the line. Chris Wells converted 7-5. Wells then took on a penalty attempt from just inside his own half and downwind only to see it strike the woodwork and Wirral cleared. The home side did go further ahead when a phase of attacks resulted in a driving maul and then a score - claimed by at least half of the pack. Wells knocked over the conversion 12-5. Just before the break Annetts recovered the initiative briefly for Wirral by scoring after a quick tap penalty Craig Harvey levelled the scores 12-12. Wirral looked forward to second half advantages offered by both wind and terrain. After 54 mins Mafi for the Saints prevented a quick penalty from being taken and was sinbinned. Craig Harvey kicked Wirral into the lead. Further advantage was taken of the man advantage when a turnover ball was recycled through Harvey and Pearl before Donaldson scored with Harvey once again improving the score 12-22. Yet another turnover ball saw Craig Harvey run another try under the posts for a 7 pointer. At 29-12 ahead and 15 minutes to play Wirral were obliged to make changes. The match became a little fractious and Pearl for the visitors took a 10 min break for not releasing. Anselmians took full toll with an all forwards try and further boisterous exchanges took place - as happens when neighbours fall out. The good crowd then saw Jason Green the Wirral hooker sidestep a couple of tackles to score his second try in 48 months. Hookers tend not as a rule to sidestep so one for the honours board perhaps ?. FT 17-36

Broughton Park 27-20 Vale of Lune
A good result for Park who tend to blow hot and cold this term. The Vale website reports that they last won at Broughton Park when the ground was at Chelsfield Grove. Hough End is not a ground where others take too many points away from either. After having first use of the tail wind Vale found themselves 24-5 behind and reports relate that 39 of the total of 48 points scored on the day were against the elements. Jonny Thomas got the Park scoreboard rolling with an unconverted try and Ronan O'Brien added another that he successfully improved upon. Home centre Paddy O'Donnell crossed for O'Brien to convert and then James Hodder broke well for the Vale but the move ended with a serious looking knee injury to Vales Luke Richmond. Eventually the away side got their half of the scoreboard moving when Hodder broke once again and made the space for James Hesketh to score. HT 24-5. Ball for Vale then scored after a looping pass rebounded back to him and then, once again Ball broke and offloaded well to Owen Hughes who crossed. Moore converted and the score was becoming a little more respectable for the visitors. There was time left for O'Brien to kick a penalty and for Moore to reply in kind right on the full time whistle. An entertaining match for the independent spectator. Vale receive Northwich next Saturday.

Northwich 50-0 Carlisle 
This was a match for the purists with very little action needed from the referee in an open and fairly played match of few penalties. As a contest it was a heavy pack from Cumbria against an improving back line from Northwich. Carlisle had won 2 out of their last 3 fixtures while Northwich had lost 2 out of their last 3. The Carlisle pack had the better of the first 20 minutes with pick and drive tactics prevailing but without really threatening the home line. Northwich had No 8 Robinson back from injury and both Walding and Naylor passed late fitness tests. Northwich gradually worked their way into the game and regained territory. A maul in the visitors 5m area provided the opportunity for front row Chris James to score. Robinson then took advantage of the restart to run in from distance. Grant Hallam, having his best game for the club, converted both and when Adam Bown, who has been unfit for a season, scored in the corner on the stroke of half time matters were looking ominous for the Carlisle faithful. HT 19-0. The second half saw the Northwich backs rip the Carlisle defence apart with very fast-passing, flowing rugby and 5 second half tries followed with Hallam converting three of them. Player Coach Cammis, Hallam, Heywood, Barber and Chubb all finished off good moves and the only blemish for the home side was an injury to talismanic scrum half Mike Gallimore. Northwich now visit Vale of Lune, then play LSH at Moss Farm before visiting Wirral. Carlisle were always competitive up front and will win more games but on the day they were well beaten.

Week 7 October 15th
Most matches went with the form book with the exception of Carlisle who registered an all penalty win over visitors Broughton Park 24-12 and the suspicion is that the City of Carlisle giant is awakening from its early season slumbers. Wirral held Liverpool St Helens for most of the match but the final result was 21-14 to LSH with LSH reports talking about fitness prevailing. Vale of Lune beat Wigton 37-7 in Lancaster and Widnes beat Anselmians 30-7 in the battle of the two promoted from S/Lancs and Cheshire last term. Aspatria 29-40 Leigh were good value for their 29 points but on the day Leigh were winners in a hard fought match at the Bower. Sandbach 23-12 Wilmslow, Sandbach overcame neighbours Wilmslow in a very even match but Davenport and Burton scored from defensive scrums either side of half time for the league leaders. In the other match Rochdale 32-38 Northwich was looking all over at 60 minutes with the away side 38-13 ahead. Rochdale took advantage of further Northwich injury replacements to run in 3 tries in the final quarter and just ran out of time otherwise they would certainly have won.
Neither Sandbach nor LSH managed a bonus point but Leigh are the bonus kings with 7 from 7 matches. 

Carlisle 24- 12 Broughton Park
Carlisle followed their triumph at Wigton with a first home win this term against Broughton Park. The Carlisle faithful will have noticed that their activity in the market recently has encouraged competition among their backs with two of their signings being centres, from Northern and Saffron Walden and the 3rd, a local winger.

On the day Carlisle were happy to take the points against a Park side who often struggle on the road. It was the penalty count and indiscipline that cost the visitors dear however. Penalty after penalty in the first half saw Carlisle 15-0 ahead at the break with Park's Tuohy and Carpenter in the sin bin for backchat. The first play of the second period saw yet another penalty awarded against Park but then the visitors freed speedster Titiloye who scored well and O'Brien converted. Carlisle replied with yet another penalty 18-7 but Park were doing the running and Adedayo crossed for the visitors. At 18-12 looked still in the match but Carlisle kicked another penalty and then following a succession of 4 more penalties awarded against them -2 of which were kicked- the visitors found themselves 24-12 down. The match ended much as the first half had finished. A Carlisle lock was yellow carded 2 minutes from time and in time added on there was just time for the Park hooker to discuss the award count with the ref (yellow) and then further advance his case (red) before calm was restored. 8 penalties for Carlisle to 2 tries and a conversion for Park was probably a fair reflection of the match.

Liverpool St Helens 21 -14 Wirral
Liverpool St Helens were 9-6 ahead then behind 11-9 against visitors Wirral before Andy McDowell ran in a couple of tries to give the Moss Lane side the spoils. Earlier Danny Harvey had scored a cracking try from 20m out after brother Craig had carved out the opening. Wirral are very competitive again this season and they matched the home side throughout the majority of the match. LSH connections suggest that their greater fitness saw them home eventually. Difficult to disagree with that point in fact as LSH do score a lot of final quarter points.

Widnes 30-7 Anselmians
Widnes saw off the challenge of neighbours Anselmians, winning 30-7. Widnes were quickly away from the visitors as Leadbetter (2) and Matt Smith crossed for early tries. Anselmians came back into the game and Pennington scored well after a good Tupou No 8 drive. The final quarter saw Widnes's Varley and Riley close the game out with good scores. Anselmians are suffering multiple injuries and, without have insufficient depth in the squad, colts are being drafted in to a team playing in a very strong league.

Sandbach 23-12 Wilmslow
Pre match thoughts were that this was to be a kicking duel between Bob MaCallum and will Cargill but in the event the match was decided by two Sandbach forwards in the unlikely form of second row Davenport and flanker Oli Burton. We are not really used to extolling the virtues of the Sandbach pack but the cruscial tries both came from scrums won against the head. Firstly Cargill put lock Chris Davenport away and the big chap gallopped across the whitewash with some delight. Early on in the second half another Wilmslow scrum was lost for Oli Burton to score. For the record Cargill knocked over 5 from 6 to edge the kicking duel on the day albeit that all 12 Wilmslow points came from MaCallums boot.

Vale of Lune 37-7 Wigton
Predictable result perhaps with Vale a very difficult side to upset at Powder House Lane. Two late tries by No 4 Lee Acton were the highlights perhaps but it took Vale sometime to establish superiority and also to get used to the Wilson/Carter half back pairing instead of the usual 10 Jimmy Moore. Carter turned playmaker and Vale recovered well from Wigtons frenetic start with saw them into top gear early on and Tom Gardener catitalised on an error by Vale and crossed for the visitors. Dave Hanabury converted. At 7-0 down the Vale gradually moved up through the gears and, after a Carter penalty, and on the stroke of half time, a Darren Wilson sortie resulted in Carter kicking through for Hughes to collect and go in near to the corner flag. Carter converted well from wide out. The second half saw a typical James Hodder try who ran in from 40m out and then came Actons brace of tries the second of which is reported to be from distance. Praise for Referee Kevin Warwick which is good to hear.

Rochdale 32-38 Northwich
The sunshine in Rochdale was appreciated by all -except perhaps by the Rochdale President who is welsh, and who sported a black tie in memory of a campaign cruelly lost on foreign shores earlier in the day. Rochdale were looking well beaten after an hour following early tries from Northwich's stand off Cass Walding who intercepted for an easy score before Tommy Gunn crossed in the corner for Dale and Des Whitehead converted very well from the line. Walding grabbed a second for the visitors and then after 30 minutes Northwich winger Joel Barber took the ball into a maul 5m out and prop Chris James came up last to claim the try. Hallam was kicking well for Northwich but just before the break Whitehead got a penalty back to change over with the score 10-21 to the visitors. After the break Northwich piled on the pressure and Walding, Barber and flanker Mckibbin were punching holes in the Rochdale defence. Hallum kicked a penalty, Barber crossed for a try and after Whitehead had kicked another penalty for Dale, McKibbin added to the Northwich total with a typical bullocking run. 13-38 with 20 minutes to play. Walding came off with an ankle problem as did prop Cray for the visitors and the game turned around dramatically. Rochdale seemed to smell the complacency and their backs exude class going forward. Go forward they did, with Jeremy Lefton, Tommy Helliwell and John McNichols all scoring very good tries. With 5 minutes to play they looked like winning the game so much were they on top. No doubt who was pleased to hear the final whistle. The much vaunted Northwich defence has now leaked 124 points this season with 19 of them in the final quarter of this game.

Aspatria 29-40 Leigh
The visitors are playing very well as a team this season but do not generally travel well and Aspatria have got more energy into their game recently so a good match was expected. The spectators were not to be disappointed. Aspatria started with coach Mike Scott at fly half and several home forays resulted in a successful Clegg penalty. Leigh worked their way back into the match and a kickable penalty was rejected in favour of a kick to the corner. Leigh's catch and drive moves are very well executed and Aspatria committed plenty of brawn to the defense of this ploy but instead of going for the roll over Leigh went blind and scored through Foreshaw with the extras being added.3-7. Still end to end play but after 25 minutes Leigh entered a purple patch that saw them play really exciting rugby that resulted in 4 tries in 12 minutes to go 33-3 ahead. Mike Scott must have put something into Aspatrias half time tea because they came out all guns blazing and Askew scored with Clegg converting. Aspatria were in control. Mark Lister barged through and was pulled up just short but Miller was on his shoulder to cross. Miller then charged down a Leigh clearing kick and Askew won the race to score yet again for the home side. At 22-33 the result was looking much less certain. A kick forward by Aspatria was picked up by Adam Dyson for Leigh. It all looked quite inocuous as Dyson made good yardage but his progress became much more dangerous as he swerved past a static defence and completed a wonderful run under the posts to take the game beyond the home side at 22-40. Still time for Aspatria to score a rare 4th try with Nick Edgar going over in the corner and Clegg converting well. Good match.

It is looking very tight at the bottom with Carlisle winning a couple. Aspatria are looking more threatening and Wigton picking up the all-important bonus points. Expect to see Wilmslow and Anselmians look to reinforce their squads. At the top Sandbach march on, with LSH in close attendance. Widnes look the best of the following pack on current form but the heavier pitches now beckon and still 75% of the season to play.

Week 6 October 8th
A low scoring week-end across a mainly wet and windy Saturday. Leaders Sandbach maintained their 100% start to the season by defeating Northwich at Moss Farm 15-9. Liverpool St Helens maintained their pursuit by overcoming Anselmians after a short journey across the Mersey by 17-9. Widnes had a very good win on the road at Leigh by 15-13 to go third. Broughton Park won at Hough End by beating Rochdale by 3-0. Vale of Lune maintained their up and down start to the season and this time they won at Wirral by 33-24. So, we come to the Cumbrians, and Aspatria were looking to follow up their home triumph last Saturday with the 1st away win at Wilmslow. Sadly the gods were not with them and they went down 24-8. The Cumbrian battle of might against muscle at Wigton saw Carlisle record their maiden victory by the narrowest of margins 16-15. Well done lads. Overall there were just 199 points scored this Saturday and 101 by the away sides. Stats by arrangement with IBM sponsors of the RWC..

Broughton Park 3-0 Rochdale.
Not much happened at Hough End where Broughton Park had a lot of territory and possession but couldn't do much with it against a resolute Rochdale defence. One O'Brien penalty was all that it took to gather up the points.

Northwich 9-15 Sandbach
Not much happened at Moss Farm Northwich either. Sandbach brought their unbeaten start to the season to Northwich who have not lost at home since 2009 and have such scalps as Lymm, Burnage, Altrincham Kersal and LSH hanging in the changing rooms. On the day 5 penalties from Cargill were better than 3 penalties from Hallam in a poor spectacle for a good crowd that was well refereed by a young lady from Bristol. Sandbach deserved their win because they infringed less and they have now won at LSH and Northwich and beaten Broughton Park at home. Good form. Northwich lost their County centre Steve Campbell to a depressed fracture to the cheek. It has also been confirmed that prop John Brotherton broke his arm in two places last week at Aspatria so not much joy for the Blacks.

Anselmians 0-17 Liverpool St Helens
LSH travelled across the Mersey and recorded a good victory, made sweeter by keeping a clean sheet. LSH had first advantage of the slope but it took 30 mins before they scored when winger Andy Dowell crossed in the corner after a good flowing move. Cunliffe converted from the touchline but had an easier conversion when LSH were awarded a penalty try. HT 0-14. Strong Anselmian attacking play in the second half came to nought and Cunliffe added a last minute penalty to conclude the scoring.

Leigh 13-15 Widnes
Splendid win for visitors Widnes who do not look out of place at this level at all. glover scored for Widnes after 7 minutes but Leigh replied with an 8 man rumbling, rolling heavy artillery try. 5-5. Leigh knocked over a penalty to go 8-5 in front but then the try of the day when Smith chipped ahead for Fell to collect and return the ball to Smith to score. Grewat move and Leadbetter converted before he added a penalty to take the visitors 15-8 in front. Leigh have a formidable pack and time and again they  threatened. As the game approached the last minute a maul developed and this time the Leigh heavies were not to be thwarted. They crossed and scored but critically, as it turned out, the score was wide out and the conversion attempt that would have drawn the game sailed just wide. Good contest all round

Wigton 15-16 Carlisle
The first win for Carlisle this season as their young team gather confidence week-by-week. this will have been a disappointing result for Wigton who slip down into

Wilmslow 24-8 Aspatria
Wilmslow returned to winning ways after a sluggish start to this season. MacCallam and Park exchanged penalties and Aspatria had a "nearly try" when a foot went onto the sideline with the score beckoning. After just 12 minutes a sloppy Aspatria 22 drop-out was charged down and the Wilmslow pack rumbled over with McKay the last man to surface triumphant for the home side. 8-3 after the conversion was missed. Possibly the key moment occured when Wilmslow spurned an easy penalty to kick to the corner. Their forwrds duly rewarded the skippers decision and a catch and drive by the pack saw them across the line with prop Finlow getting on the scoresheet and MacCallum converting. 15-3 at this stage with lots of time left in the first period. No more score however until MacCallum kicked an early 2nd half penalty. Apatria were starting to get back into the game and their patience was rewarded with a try. a penalty kicked into the corner and Aspatria's line out was sound. Scrum half Jonker sniped around the edge and crossed low down to get back to 10-8. A couple of moments of poor discipline by the visitors and MacCallum kicked two more penalties to leave the score 24-8. A competent display by Wilmslow who needed the win. Aspatria have had several returning players available these past two weeks and they need to regain last seasons confidence and start to string together two or three results.

Wirral 24-33 Vale of Lune
Lots of points in this one in a generally poor week for spectators. Craig Harvey put the home side ahead with an early penalty and Wirral then had a couple of field goal attempts go wide. The Vale half backs worked their magic (as they do) with a Wilson break from the base and offload to Moore who went in under the posts. Carter kicked the extras and indeed Carters only miss of the day was from a 46 metre attempt wide out against the wind. 2 penalties from Harvey and a Carter reply left the score at 9-10 half way. Vale kicked off after the break but Wirral could not stop the ball from bouncing into touch. Several phases followed in the Wirral 29m area and eventually vale lock Perry crashed over followed by a melee and two yellow cards. The conversion was eventually kicked by Carter. Instead of capitulating the Wirral side mounted their own offensive and good ball handling skills in the line saw Broadbent just squeeze in by the corner flag. Harvey converted beautifully from the touchline 16-17. Carter knocked another penalty. Harvey and Carter then exchanged penalties. After v65 minutes Vale put a little daylight between the sides when replacement prop Woodward ambled over, again converted by the excellent boot of Carter. Back came Wirral and they ran strongly out of their own half chipped and caught and there was Pearl to go in close to the posts. the missed conversion attempt from an eminently kickable position was to cost the homesters a losing bonus point. Carter was to have the last word however and it was fitting that he kicked two more penalties in a near faultless display.

Week 5 October 1st
Aspatria lowered the colours of 2nd placed Northwich with a last gasp try to win 20-18. The first win of this campaign for Aspatria and the 1st reverse for Northwich. Liverpool St Helens won well on the road at Vale of Lune in a high scoring match 33-41. Leaders Sandbach just about did enough to keep their 100% record by edging Broughton Park out 17-14 at Bradwell Road. Leigh continue to impress and they overcame visitors Anselmians 32-7. Wirral travelled to Carlisle and brought back the points by winning 13-14 in a really tight match. Wilmslow went down 37-7 at Widnes who are looking capable of more than just consolidation at this level. In the final match this week Rochdale overcame their visitors Wigton by 28-10. Sandbach now lead LSH by 2 points and retain their unbeaten run. At the other end Carlisle get their first point while bonus points are looking as important as ever among those teams with one win so far.

Leigh 32-7 Anselmians
It is difficult for those that have seen the Anselmians pack on a Saturday to hear that they were outmuscled on the day but Leigh can justifiably argue that they did just that. The Leigh forwards made the gaps for their full back Paul Wilcock to score 3 times while winger Dyson also crossed. Anselmians briefly raised their game with a converted try after 60 minutes but Leigh were well away by then. Leigh skipper David Wood went over after good work from Foreshaw who kicked his sides extras. Leigh go joint 4th on 17 points.

Vale of Lune 33-41 Liverpool St Helens
A cracking good win for the men from Merseyside in a match boasting 9 tries and 4 yellow cards. The first half saw two tries apiece with Vale leading 17-14 at the break. Sutherland and Matt Cunliffe going over for the visitors and Moore and Curran getting 5 pointers for VOL. Carters penalty gave the home side the edge at that stage but Curran ran in an early second half converted try. The last 25 minutes saw LSH pull back the 27-17 deficit when 3 penalties for Vale were not enough as LSH ran in 4 tries with Pape, Stanley, and Phil Kearns (2) winning the match for the visitors.

Carlisle 13-14 Wirral
Wirral made their way north hopeful of maintaining their good form and they came back victorious-just. Carlisle enjoyed much more territory than in previous matches this term and Wirral's composure was upset when Prendergast and Doneo knocked each other about in an early collision with both leaving the field  to get patched up. With nothing to trouble the scorers in the first 25 minutes stalemate prevailed. Weightman knocked over a Carlisle penalty but was not able to convert Matthew Minnet's excellent try from wide out shortly afterwards. At this stage a 1st Carlisle win looked likely but the dynamic Harvey duo combined for Wirral with an up-and-under kicked and caught by by Craig H. being offloaded to bro Danny H. Craig converted. Gareth Wylie, the Carlisle number 8 then crashed through wide out but once again the difficult conversion was wide. Right at the end of the 1st period Wirral got their noses in front when Pearl scored after good work from Harvey D. Harvey C converted cruscially to leave the visitors 14-13 ahead.

The second half began and stalemate returned. A good Aussie referee on show here but nothing much of note happened. Somewhere in Walsall a Matt Robson of Carlisle Utd FC was banging in a 35 yard free kick to earn his side a point. His home ground across the park was empty except for a few seagulls wheeling overhead but there were still no points to report at the rugby and the faithful enjoyed the sunshine.  Wirral will point to two results in successive weeks where 2 point and one point margins have been enough to secure vital victories.

Aspatria 20-18 Northwich
It has been coming for some time. Aspatria connections will say that Northwich were run ragged by the victorious home side and it is difficult to argue to the contrary. Northwich went ahead early on as Courtnage finished off a Gallimore & Coulbeck move and Hallam converted. The warning bells were ringing when Aspatria's pack were adjudged held-up over the line. Jonker then took a quick tap for Aspatria and went the distance to score in the corner. Aspatria had the better of the rest of the 1st half but could not improve on the score HT 5-7.

Clegg took the home side ahead with a penalty but Hallam replied from a long way out to restore the one point lead for the visitors. At the 60 minute mark the Northwich club captain Rick Smith picked up a loose ball in the oppositions 22 and he drove over but the conversion was missed. 8-15 and 15 minutes to play. Player Coach Mike Scott for Aspatria brought himself off the bench and immediately scored with Chris Park converting to level the scores. Pressure this time from the visitors and Hallum knocked over a dying minute penalty 15-18 and the ref indicated that there was just enough time to restart. Line out on the half way line and Aspatria's Tinnion ran through a static defence and went all the way to record a well deserved victory. Northwich has a wealth of talent but clearly need a strong decision maker among the backs and greater team cohesion. They also need to emulate others in this league who grind out results on bad days away from base.

Widnes 37-7 Wilmslow
The size of this defeat reflects the progress made by Widnes and also perhaps, that Wilmslow have lost too much talent recently leaving them too reliant upon good youngsters. Anyway Wilmslow started well enough with an early converted try with Chadwick scoring after good work by Matthew King. Widnes could only respond with a Leadbetter penalty to trail 3-7 half way. After the break Widnes transformed themselves and scored tries from Smith, Welsh, Riley and Schofield with Leadbetter converting the lot and adding a couple of penalties for good measure. Reports suggest that Widnes could have easily scored a couple more. Wilmslow entertain Aspatria next

Rochdale 28-10 Wigton
A better performance from the Rochdale side who started off slowly and Wigton might have scored twice but poor handling saw both very good opportunities spurned. Wigton did get onto the scoresheet when Harper kicked a penalty but first Flitcroft and then Rochdale new boy Tom Andrews scored with Andrews benefitting from great work by Joe MacNicholas. Wigton were not done and their forwards had the satisfaction of a pushover try to get back to 13-10. Not much more joy for the visitors thereafter as Flitcroft took advantage of a good Neave/James move to score his second before Ollie Coldman put the issue beyond doubt when he charged down a clearance kick to score. Are we to see Rochdale revive their fortunes or was this just their liking for the sun and firm pitches.?

Sandbach 17-14 Broughton Park. Our leaders ground out the win that they just about deserved in a very even match. Two late Broughton Park penalties were kicked, and two even later Park penalties were missed by Ronan O'Brien in a match where 2 Sandbach tries to one saw the home side home.  Warren Duffy scored for Park after 10 minutes with a fine individual effort to cross wide out. Sandbach replied with a good blind side move and Mark Bird went over with Cargill adding the conversion. George Mosley was sinbinned and was still off the field after the half way break with the score still 10-5. Ben Elliot seems to have been an inspired acquisition for Sandbach during the Summer break. He was everywhere on the day and the former Winnington Park full back created the second Sandbach try in a fine display of rugby. He evaded the attention of 3 of Park's tacklers and kicked through cleverly for the onrushing Jack Leech to score and Cargill obliged with the extra two points from a difficult angle. Restored to 15 men Park came back strongly. O'Brien then kicked his two penalties and missed a couple to leave the Sandbach outfit with 5 wins from 5.

Next week Sandbach make the short trip to Northwich where they have a better record than most. LSH go to Anselmians and Wirral receive Vale of Lune. Expect a good match at Leigh where Widnes are the visitors.

Week 4 September 24th
Honours this week must go to Anselmians who turned over Vale of Lune 43-20. The Saints were just about good value for their win after coming from behind and look like a difficult outfit to out-gun up front.  Liverpool St Helens romped home 52-0 against a young Carlisle team while Broughton Park dished out similar treatment to a depleted Aspatria by 52-3. Wilmslow were disappointed to lose at home to Leigh 17-45 but Leigh are clearly an improved side this term. Wirral defeated Rochdale 17-15 in a very tight contest to return to winning ways. Rochdale who lost by a point last week, seem unable to kick that extra 3 pointer. Wirral however are playing very well and have 3 from 4 so far.
Northwich recorded another unconvincing win by 22-17 against visitors Widnes. who were perhaps unlucky to lose on the day. A good running side, Widnes, with plenty of innovative ideas and they work well as a team. Finally to Wigton where visitors Sandbach were putting their undefeated record on the line. In the event they defended it stoutly to come back with a 21-23 result in their favour and continue to head the table.

LSH go to Vale of Lune this Saturday but there should be another good match to watch at Leigh where Anselmians are the visitors.

Anselmians 43-30 Vale of Lune
Vale were ahead by 23-15 at half way after James Curran, James Hodder and Curran again had run in tries. Anselmians had once again taken time to adjust to the pace at this level but are quick learners and Pritchard and Mafi were try scorers for the home side. The second period saw Anselmians come back hard. Pennington converted his own try but Higgins for Vale replied for Carter to convert.  Tupoa the No 8 for The Saints, got onto the score sheet by thundering over and carrying 2 or 3 clinging would-be tacklers with him. The big chap then took a break for 10 minutes along with his opposite number as temperatures rose. Anselmians were still behind as the final 10 minutes beckoned. However, first Temmen playing at lock forward for the Saints forced his 6ft 9" frame over the line to score and then Mafi added another both of which were converted by Pennington. The Saints will point to the enforced positional change when Tunna was obliged to move from open-side to centre as being the game changer.

Wilmslow 17-45 Leigh.
Leigh had suffered two narrow defeats and rebounded by winning at the Memorial Ground where not many come away victorious. Wood was cpulling the Leigh strings and prop Tom Baker crossed in the corner for the visitors after sterling work by Ince. Forshaw converted from wide out. Adam Dyson then scored for Leigh after great work from Alex Middleton-Adams. Wilmslow's MacCallum kicked a penalty before Forshaw scored and converted for the third time. The same player then got over-excited and took a 10 min break during which Wilmslow ran in a converted try of their own. Wright did cross for Wilmslow for a 7 pointer but the Wilmslow scribe comments that Wilmslow were "attacking in ones"

After the break Leigh's big men, were running the show ably directed by Wood. Mark Welsh crossed for Leigh and then talisman No8 Chris Crompton added another. Leigh were rampant in this passage of play and Mike Eccles freed Dyson to run away for yet another try and then another-his third shortly afterwards. Wolves Mike Clifford helped himself for Wilmslow as the visitors took their foot off the gas. Leigh are much fitter this term. Whether they have strength in depth we shall see but the heavier pitches will usually favour their big pack.

Northwich 22-17 Widnes
It was the visitors that caught the eye and, had Leadbetter have knocked over the two penalties that hit the woodwork then matters would have been much different. Northwich re-organised after player coach Cammiss was indisposed and Chris Dale returned to the back row where he gained international honours as a Colt. Leadbetter kicked very well despite those two close calls and he got the scoreboard rolling with an early penalty. Northwich's Dan King then maintained his excellent new season scoring record by finishing off a good backs movement in the corner. Widnes took the lead once again when centre Dave Welsh crossed and Leadbetter improved. 10-5 to the visitors. Just before half way skipper Sam Naylor burst through for a try and Hallum kicked the conversion to put the home side 12-10 ahead at the break. The irrespressable Mike Gallimore for Northwich was causing Widnes all sorts of problems from the scrum half position and it was he who wriggled over to increase the lead to 19-10 which was not a reflection of the amount of possession not territory that Widnes had enjoyed. One Widnes overlap in particular should have been taken but the ball did not go to hand. The visitors however were not to be denied and they scored the best try of the afternoon when centre Welsh put Andrew Riley into a gap for the full back to score. At 19-17 either of the spurned kicking opportunities would have put Widnes ahead. A Hallum penalty concluded the scoring after Northwich had also missed a clear bonus point opportunity on the overlap. A young referree on display who had a good match and no cards needed. Widnes looked well balanced between forwards and backs but like last season when Wirrall came up they will find that it takes time to adapt to the pace at this level so consolidation will be their objective. They will take a few scalps on the way and are well supported.

Wirral 17-15 Rochdale
This game was always going to be tight and the Rochdale runners were a delight to watch when we last saw them -maybe 3 seasons ago. On the day they did not disappoint and after missing a kickable penalty they went ahead through James Flitcroft crossed the chalkline in the corner. This was increased to 8-0 to Rochdale after an off-side penalty. After 25 minutes a short grubber kick from Flitcroft was grounded by Joe McNicholas and the visitors went 15-0 ahead when the score was converted. Wirral came a little more into the game with two or three abortive breaks but it was Rochdale who once again saw a kickable penalty sail wide to conclude the first period just 15-0 ahead. Rochdale carried on the second half as they had finished the first. A missed penalty this time from only 5m wide of the posts was poor reward for the backs efforts. Play began to take place in Rochdale terrirory after Prendergast and Sherlock were introduced by the home side. Murray went blind from a scrum for Wirral and Sherlock-fresh as a daisyof course- ran in for a score that Harvey converted. With 5 minutes left on the clock, Wirral had to decide whether to kick a penalty and gain a losing bonus point or risk all. 3 points were duly taken and this play was rewarded when Dan Harvey scored in the dying minute. Brother Craig converted to put the home side ahead for the first time on 79 mins and give them the victory 17-15. Good timing ! Rochdale will rue not going away with the spoils and will look back at several missed kicks after they had dominated much of the game.

Wigton 21-23 Sandbach
It was a difficult fixture on paper for Sandbach and this prophecy became actuality on the day. Lowmoor Road has a lovely setting looking out towards the Solway Firth and the view looked good to leaders Sandbach after their victory and a much deserved losing point for Wigton who pondered what might have been. Overall Sandbach will have travelled back with their position at the top of the league established and will be looking forward to receiving 4th placed Broughton Park next Saturday. Wigton travel to Rochdale.

Liverpool St Helens 52-0 Carlisle
A regulation win for LSH who did all that was necessary to record a resounding victory and to go third. Carlisle have a good stable of youngsters but they were no match for the Moss Road outfit that are starting to hit their expected pre-season form. the "usual suspects" were on the scorecard as LSH backs were given lots of ball from forward dominance.Ian Stanley and Pape got a brace each after Cunliffe and Crampton created space. There were 5 second half tries with Pape getting his third but the LSH pack were not to be denied and both Kearns and Lorens crossed from short range with a penalty try to complete the day. Cunliffe, as ever converted 4 out of the 5 second half tries. LSH go to Vale of Lune next Saturday with their tails up.

Broughton Park 52-3 Aspatria
You need a full team and a lot of concentration to go to Hough End and expect to get a result. Aspatria travelled south short handed and accordingly, paid the full price. Park led at the break after Warren Duffy got 3 tries and O'Brien adding conversions. Jack Clegg responding for Aspatria with a penalty. O'Donnell, Tuohy, Thomas and Carpenter helped themselves to second half tries with O' Brien converting all 7 tries and adding a penalty. Park are 4th and relishing the visit to Sandbach next Saturday.

Week 3 September 17th
The weather was mostly wet and windy across the region for Week 3 matches and running rugby seems to have been foresaken for the safer forward options. Only 277 points scored across the 7 games. Sandbach won against visitors Wirral by a convincing margin of 42-3 and go top at this very early juncture. Good result from Sandbach who look as if they will be more than a match for any visitors this season. Northwich struggled to overcome Leigh away but managed to turn a 6-3 half time deficit into 10-3 full time victory with a converted try. A similarly low scoring match at Rochdale where Liverpool St. Helens were in town. The visitors emerged winners by a single point 9-8 after 3 kicks were better than one try and one penalty kick.
Local Derby day at Aspatria where visitors Wigton earned the Cumbrian bragging rights by going home 29-17 victors. No great arguement that Wigton were the better side on the day and deserved winners. Another far northern affair saw Vale of Lune up at Carlisle. The men from Lancaster were in irrepressible form and won by 44-7.
Widnes will have been delighted to have triumphed 37-25 at home to Broughton Park. With its fantastic history, traditions and pedigree the Manchester side are a prized scalp for all to take. Anselmians will not be so happy at going down at Wilmslow 35-5. Wilmslow have started slowly but this victory should set them on course for better results going forward.

Sandbach 42-3 Wirral
Sandbach are enjoying a cracking start to the season and entertained Wirral who had themselves chalked up 70 points in week 2. At half time Sandbach had accumulated a good lead by 25-3 after scores by Will Stockdale, Cargill and Matt Beesley, Cargill kicking the extras. Wirrall lost a flanker half way through the first period to the sin-bin and then lost the other one just before the break to the same place. "To lose one flanker is unlucky but two downright careless etc etc". A further 17 Sandbach points in the second half through Murray and Mark Bird tries and the trusty boot of Cargill did the rest. Sandbach travel to Wigton this week.

Rochdale 8-9 Liverpool St. Helens
Easy to do the maths, 3 penalties on one side and a try and one penalty to the other. It was Matt Cunliffe who knocked the penalties over for LSH, the last of which was from the touchline, 2 mins from the final whistle and 30 metres out, so no gimmee and a pressure kick. it was to be the matchwinner. Rochdale will consider themselves a tad unlucky to have just gained one bonus point from their afternoons work. Daz James kicked a penalty in a first half which saw the home side never far away from the visitors line. After a half an hour Rochdale produced a good flowing move after a long clearance kick from LSH was fielded by home winger Joss Schofield. Schofield took the catch and set off on a mazy crossfield run but then a series of passes saw flanker Ross Hartley cross the whitewash for the game's only try. Rochdales backs appear to be as lively as they were when we last saw them, and their forwards cant be too shoddy to have held the LSH heavies so we can expect that they will take a few of the fancied teams down at home. LSH will say that you have to grind out wins sometimes, and all credit to Cunliffe for coolness under pressure.

Widnes 37-25 Broughton Park
The Widnes connections were delighted to have beaten Park by playing decent running rugby. Newly promoted, the Widnes lads have picked up points from all of their 3 fixtures and look like thriving at this level. After an early exchange of penalties the home side scored twice through Riley and Pieu Liku both being converted by Leadbetter. Park then took advantage of a one man advantage when Ainsworth crashed over with O'Brien adding the extras. After the break Park began to dominate and the home defence seemed to be constantly under pressure. When Widnes did venture into Park's territory they gained a penalty that Leadbetter slotted over comfortably to stretch their lead but against the run of play. No debate about the next score however as Widnes ran the ball out of defence and through the hands for a spectacular score finished off by Chris Schofield. Leadbetter added a penalty for Widnes but after a second yellow for the home side Connor Mitchell crossed for Park only for Liku to grab his second for Widnes. In a furious final couple of minutes Park scored twice through Titiloye and Steve Kiely. This was Parks first loss this term and they are always one of the teams to beat at this level. Widnes travel to Northwich next Saturday.

Aspatria 12-29 Wigton
This Cumbrian derby was not only the expected battle of the hard men but also had much more pleasing periods where passing and running were much more the norm. The facts however are that Wigton scored 5 tries in all and kept the Aspatria down to 4 penalties. Aspatria could hardly have started off worse as the kick off was won by Wigton and Ledingham saw an opportunity to go blind and release No 8 Atkinson to cross in the corner. Aspatria worked themselves back into the game and 2 Clegg penalties brought them a point ahead. Reports suggest that Aspatria's forwards were well drilled at the set piece but in the loose the Wigton pack were dominant and turned over more ball. The rolling maul was used to some effect by the visitors and from one such play Atkinson broke to go over for his and Wigtons second score. Hanabury converted to leave a 6-12 position mid way through the first period. Aspatria had plenty of possession and Lister took the homesters nearly to the line. Wigton's Henderson was lucky perhaps to only receive a yellow card for Aappearing to prevent the score illegally. Clegg kicked the penalty and then added another when Wigton's Gardner commit another yellow card offence to bring the scores level at 12-12. this was the period where Aspatria might have expected to score a couple more but 13 men Wigton held out until half time.

Aspatria's 15 men will have felt confident of drawing away after the break with a 2 man advantage. Wigton held firm albeit that a really golden opportunity went begging for the home side. Restored to a full team, Wigton then fought back and Andrew Bell who has propped a few Cumbrian scrums in the past 2 -or 3 ? decades scored his seasons quota by crossing the whitewash with a minimum of fuss. No swallow dive, no celebratory yahoo or grass slide into the corner flag, just a glimmer of a satisfied smile perhaps ?. After this score the home side lost Reilly to the bin and all seemed lost. The youthful Ledingham and Hanabury started to probe the tiring Aspatria defence and the bonus try was scored and converted after an hour. 12-24 at this stage and after a fine break from Aspatrias Rayson was stopped it was Atkinson for Wigton that had the final word to complete his hat trick. Atkinson will take the deserved plaudits for Wigton but their half backs continued where they left off last season and will become more influential. Aspatria matched the visitors territorially for much of the game without great penetration.

Carlisle 7-44 Vale of Lune
Vale ran in 8 tries at Warwick Road but still came away disappointed according to reports. Conditions were good and VOL took full advantage but could not initially get onto the scoreboard. Macluskie for Vol had a claim for a try turned down and then knocked on with the line at his mercy. It took Gareth Tudor to get the first chalks on the board with a try following a quick tapped penalty. The irrepressible James Hodder then scored for the visitors after good work by Wilson. Carter converted but there was no great Vale follow-up. Instead Carlisle gradually worked their way back into the match and hooker Tom Graham crossed while the Vale defence seemed to be discussing the England/Georgia match. Glen Weightman converted and the home side were briefly back in the game and matching the visitors in all areas. Just before half time Jimmy Moore for Vale kicked through, then kicked on, and kept on kicking all the way for an unconventional try that Vale scribes compared to the best on offer across the park at Carlisle Utd's ground.

The second half saw good Vale tries from Wilson & Curran; Hodder got a second and Carter also crossed. Macluskie made amends for earlier errors by completing the score. Vale, rather ominously, go third.

Leigh 6-10 Northwich
Like earlier comments re the Rochdale/LSH match this was a dour affair with just one second half Dan King try to light up an unremarkable match in favour of the visitors. Paul Wilcock the Leigh fullback knocked over two 1st half penalties and Grant Hallam answered with a single 3 pointer for the visitors to leave the score 6-3 at half way. The Leigh pack are always a difficult unit to break down and the Northwich playmakers might have tried running the ball more often given their talent & ability out wide. The second half saw much more running play and despite penalty awards for & against both sides the only try of the match came from Northwich when Dan King finished off a cracking backs move in the corner and Hallam converted splendidly from the touchline. Towards the end Hallam crossed for Northwich after another flowing move but was ruled not to have grounded the ball. Leigh spent much of the last 10 in their own 22. They did manage to break out dangerously once and could have easily scored but for good covering by the Northwich backs. Leigh fully deserved their losing point and look a better unit than last year. They will test others with promotion ambitions at home this season. Leigh go to Wilmslow this Saturday while Northwich receive Widnes.

Wilmslow 35-5 Anselmians
A heavy defeat for Anselmians at the Memorial Ground and Wilmslow were pleased to get a win under their belts after a couple of early season reverses. The home side tend to lose good players to higher league teams and, while this must be extremely annoying at least it gives new blood from the Colts plenty of opportunities. Reports suggest that the visiting Saints line out was under pressure all day, in stark contrast to the well marshalled performance that they displayed against Northwich a couple of weeks ago. One of the younger Wilmslow breed-Harry Scott took an early knock and was replaced by Andy Walker with MacCallum moving to 15. That change seemed to spark Wilmslow because Ben Day scored immediately afterwards following great work from Tom Rayner. It was then the same Rayner who got himself onto the scoresheet with a good try, ably converted by MacCallum, to take the half way score to 12-0. The Anselmian's  faithful have had much to cheer about over the past 12 months but the second period offered very little enjoyment as The Wolves played good rugby. Firstly MacCallum punished successive infringements by kicking a couple of penalties then Walker for Wilmslow boomed several clearances back deep into Saints territory that exerted pressure and which led to mistakes. Discipline became an issue for the visitors. A penalty award became a 10 metre walk, and then a yellow card after further "discussion" with the ref. MacCallum will punish any side with his place kicking-and did. It was then MacCallum who found space wide out to run round under the posts before Rayner got a second with both being converted. The visitors, to their credit, kept going in a creditable display of stubbornness and right at the death their reward came when No 8 Tapoa took advantage of a tiring Wolves defence to cross for a consolation try.

Saints are a good outfit but will need time to adjust to the pace of the play at this level perhaps. Strong up the middle but teams like Wilmslow, Sandbach, and Vale maybe, will destroy very good sides out wide. They also of course miss the experience and the kicking of the influential Simon Mason who broke a leg pre-season.

General point. Many of the club reports cite and complain about technical offences, needless infingements and team yellow cards. Perhaps this serves to show that refs are at least being consistent. Handling in the ruck and offside calls are always easy to dispute from the touchline. If there is consistency then there can be no complaints and the level of refereeing is definitely getting better, as indeed is the playing standard, in this league.

Week 2 September 10th
Plenty of points scored in the second round of the league competition-exactly 400 by my count. A good week for promoted Anselmians and Widnes. Anselmians demolished the Carlisle outfit 45-14 and Widnes had a very good victory away at Wigton 25-28. Broughton Park made it 2 wins from 2 with a 17-13 win against Leigh while Vale of Lune triumphed against Rochdale by an impressive 56-29 scoreline. Wirral, having firmly consolidated their position in this league last season, are determined to challenge for honours this term and they won 70-29 at home against Aspatria. The Cumbrians will be disappointed at the scoreline but scoring 29 points away from home will give them hope for future games on the road. Wilmslow went down 27-19 at Northwich but were well in the game throughout. The home side gained their bonus point but they were regularly penalised -and yellow carded- for mainly repetitive offences. Learn the rules lads. Sandbach must take the honours this week for overcoming Liverpool St Helens 16-12 at Moss Lane where few teams emerge with points. Sandbach have apparently added power and mobility to their pack this season and they have added more pace to one of the best set of backs in the league. So, after 2 matches only Carlisle have yet to register a point. Wirral, Northwich, Broughton Park and Sandbach have two wins under their belts.

Wigton 25-28 Widnes.
The visitors ran in 1st half tries from Borg, Liku and Leadbetter and led 25-12 at half way. Wigton worked their way back to 25-25 but Kevin Leadbetter knocked over a late 35m penalty to give the visitors the spoils. Wigton will feel that they were unlucky after such a fight back but the scorecard rarely tells the wrong story.

Wirral 70-29 Aspatria.
Aspatria had run LSH reasonably close in week one but they arrived late after M6 difficulties, but without the influential Lister and Doyle. Broadbent and Harvey's early tries for Wirral soon had the homesters 12-0 ahead. Graham Andrews for Aspatria got a try back after the teams exchanged penalties. Further 1st half tries from Slater and Annetts saw Wirral 30-8 ahead at half way with a bonus point in the bag. Aspatria's veteran coach Mike Scott came on to try to stem the tide but Danny Harvey bagged a couple more Wirrall tries before Aspatria responded with one from Cloete. Brown, D. Harvey and Annets added further tries for Wirrall but Park and Rayson replied for the visitors giving them a bonus point. The impressive Clegg was kicking good conversions all day for Aspatria but the Wirral outfit were not to be denied and Murray concluded the try feast for Wirral. 99 points in total.

Liverpool St Helens 12-16 Sandbach
The result was everything for visitors Sandbach, who will have enjoyed their run back down the M6 afterwards. Point of order-did not this league ought not to be sponsored by the "Friends of the M6". Sandbach's Cargill has been inspirational for his team for a couple of seasons now. Massey, Egglestone and Simon Verbikas, the player coach, have a good looking outfit this term and Verbikas will have been pleased with the performances of new recruit Ben Elliot from Winnington Park. Good runs and a debut try last week against Vale and a definate plus for the Cheshire side. Little available on this match at the time of writing but there will not be many sides who win at Moss Lane this season.

Anselmians 45-14 Carlisle
Promoted Anselmians will be very pleased with this first home win at this level. They were 7-0 down after 4 minutes after Carlisle crossed but a penalty from Wells and then a Mafi try saw the home side 10-7 up at the break. Anselmians got into their stride in the second period and Mafi and McDonagh crossed for wells to improve both. An amazing 10 minutes saw Anselmians influential centre Phil Brocken score three times. The third of these was a classic fifteen man effort from inside their own 20m area and ultimately to Brocken. Mafi converted the lot. Their was still time for Carlisle to close the scoring with a converted try but they were well beaten on the day.

Broughton Park 17-13 Leigh. 
The second successive win for Park who followed their single point win at Wilmslow last week with a 4 point margin at home to Leigh. Park will take the two wins and hope to build upon a good start. Park struggled early on as Leigh looked like scoring more than one first half try. Ronan O' Brien turned the game however with penalties from either touch line and then a ridiculously long drop goal from his own half. O' Brien seems to both have admiring followers and detractors at Hough Lane and the latter camp were apparently unhappy that he kicked one ball away until Titiloye collected on the bounce and crossed in the corner. Leigh were well worth their losing point and had long periods of ascendancy.

Northwich 27-19 Wilmslow 
A good bonus point win but a disappointing performance from Northwich. Wilmslow recovered from a slow start to run Northwich close. Northwich started well and had two unconverted tries in the bag from Gallimore and James before their prop Brotherton & a Wilmslow forward were sin binned. Wilmslow then flourished and first Rory Bell and then Bob McCallum crossed and both were improved by McCallum. Just before half time Wilmslow lost the ball deep into the Northwich 20m area. Dan King for the home side took full advantage. He broke a couple of tackles before evading the two covering backs and went the distance for his second successive individual try in 2 weeks.

Vale of Lune 56-29 Rochdale.
Situation normal at Vale where the Lancastrians stormed to a big win over Rochdale. Vale ran in 7 tries with James Hodder claiming 4 of them and the effervescent Wilson, Macluskie and Hughes getting the others. Tom Carter converted 6 or the 7 tries and kicked 3 penalties. For Rochdale, their speedster Jimmy Flitcroft got two and Phil Cowburn another before replacement Tom Callaghan got a bonus point for the visitors. Darren James kicked 3 conversions and a penalty for Rochdale.

Week 1 September 3rd
 Week 1 and those new names and old friends got going with some familiar winners and some surprising losers.
 
Newly promoted teams Widnes, Aspatria and Anselmians all acquitted themselves well at the new level, but all three suffered defeats.
Widnes lost at home to Wirral 15-8 while Anselmians lost away at Northwich 38-15 after having a lot of the ball & territory but with limited penetration. They did run in 3 tries but with kicker Simon Mason on crutches those were their only points.
Aspatria entertained pre-season promotion favourites Liverpool St Helens. A good match but LSH came out on top by 28-16. A reasonable performance in the first match for the Cumbrians but LSH are a well drilled side once again and they registered both the win and a bonus point.
Leigh avoided relegation last season after New Brighton were deducted points. Leigh look a decent outfit this time and they overcame visitors Wigton by 29-13.
Sandbach won a good game against visitors Vale of Lune by 33-19. We can expect to see more running rugby from Sandbach as the season progresses but Vale capitulated a little too easily for their comfort. Vale were expected to mount a strong promotion challenge this season and their connections will not be pleased by the loss of their first fixture. Wilmslow opened their season by entertaining Broughton Park. In the end the visitors came away with the points but by the narrowest of margins 17-18.
Newly relegated Rochdale were at home to Carlisle who have moved across from N.1. East this term after Burnage were the second side promoted from N.1.West. Carlisle were reported to be very strong up front pre-season but they went down 31-11 to the Lancashire side.
 

2011-12 Pre Season

Liverpool St Helens have added a couple of players (including Neale Foster from Vale) and lost a couple (Greg Smith appears to have moved up to Sedgley Park). Returning from injury there are two more and they were reported (by their Lymm opponents) to be confident of finishing in one of the promotion slots this coming term. LSH got the better of Birkenhead Park according to reports, but Lymm were altogether a tougher proposition. LSH are bound to be thereabouts come the end of this season.

Northwich have got the better of Stafford and Orrell in practice matches and they beat promoted Altrincham Kersal on Saturday in the Cheshire Cup 18-6. Northwich have lost Piers Crozier to Lymm and Ben Geaches to Caldy. Coulbeck (from Macc) Cray (Caldy) and Hallam (Longton) have joined. Josh Cammas is the new Northwich player coach. Richard Dale is out for the season but Chris Dale returns after a season out through a serious knee injury. A strong coaching team here with Roger Blake joining Cammas and DOR Alan Jack.

Widnes overcame Ruthin comfortably and they appear to have added a couple of players to the promoted squad last term.
Anselmians have come up and were too strong for S/ Lancs and Cheshire last term. Unconfirmed reports suggest that they have added several new players.

Aspatria retain their promoted squad from last year and they will travel less this year as Carlisle and Wigton complete a Cumbrian trio.

Sandbach beat Wilmslow 37-27 last Saturday, beat Crewe and Nantwich, but went down against a Chester squad narrowly.

Rochdale  have dropped back this season and travelled to Sale FC for a friendly. Sale just shaded the try count and are led by much travelled player coach Tom Hughes (Longton, Lymm and Northwich). Expect to see Sale FC in our league next year as they are well coached, have good facilities and are well funded. Rochdale will benefit from absentees returning and we shall see if they can bounce straight back up to National level rugby.
Vale of Lune beat Tyldesley by 5 tries to 3 but little to report about players.

Leigh managed to stay up after New Brighton were docked points last term. Leigh travelled to Sedgely Park for a pre season against the SP 2nd string.

Wirral are looking to build on last season, their 1st at this level. They entertained New Brighton and travelled to Anselmians in the Cheshire Vase going down narrowly 14-13 to their near neighbours for whom Simon Mason continues to show class. Wirral have added Karl Temenn, Stuart Gilroy and Fellini Maffi to their squad. Good result for Anselmians who travel to Northwich for their 1st fixture at this level.

Finally to Manchester and Broughton Park. They went off very well last term but fell away badly after injuries decimated their squad. They have scored 7 tries against Blackburn in a pre season match and another 7 against Bowdens 4. Bowden were said to have been a stewrner test for the Mancunians who will be thereabouts again this season.
It will be interesting to see how the newly promoted sides cope with this undoubtedly tougher level. Carlisle, who switched across from N.1.Est after both AK and Burnage went up are an unknown quantity to most of the N1 West stalwarts but Rochdale were young, expansive and threw the ball about the last time that we saw them.