STANLEY slipped to their third defeat of the season after completely outplaying their opposition Haydock but not turning all the possession into points while their opponents took their chances when given. It was Haydock kicking off against a strong breeze giving Stanley early use of the football leading John Winkley to crash over for an unconverted try.

The home side then undid all their hard work with some slack defence letting Haydock in for a converted try but then Mark O'Hara side-stepped his way past three men for a fine individual try converted by Graeme McNish. More poor defence by Stanley then let Haydock score three more tries of which two were converted to give the away side a healthy 22-10 half-time lead which they increased by another converted try after the break.

The game was becoming a bit of a stalemate now with neither side gaining any ground until some good play by Stanley allowed Andy Johnson to score in the corner a try which was converted by McNish to give the home side some hope but once again Stanleys lack of discipline and poor defence let Haydock in for another converted try to seal the match although O'Hara did manage to get over the line for his second try the game had been lost and Stanley will reflect back on two points lost which should have been theirs.

Darren Holden, Winkley and McNish were outstanding for Stanley and didn't deserve to be on the losing side.

BLACKPOOL STANLEY 20 HAYDOCK 34