Haydock 5 Portico Panthers 1

THIS was another titanic struggle between these two local rivals following their Lancashire Cup final clash a few weeks ago.

On this occcasion though it was Haydock who emerged triumphant in yet another defence-dominated encounter.

Haydock had the better of the opening exchanges with Speed, Bloor, Pearson and N. Ireland prominent and Tickle went very close to scoring in the corner only for the referee rule that the ball had been lost.

The home side finally opened the scoring on 20 minutes when P. Ireland landed a penalty but Portico replied four minutes later with a drop goal by Mike Hobin.

Haydock restored their two-point advantage on 29 minutes when P. Ireland slotted over a drop goal but with some big hits going in on both sides tempers became a little frayed and Portico were reduced to 12 men when one of their forwards was shown the red card.

The home side also suffered a blow in losing P. Ireland with a head cut but they went close to grabbing the first try of the game when the ever-present Bloor was held short after a darting run just before half-time.

Haydock piled on the pressure at the start of the second period in a bid to press home their numerical advantage but the Portico line held firm and the only additions to the scoreline were further drop goals for the Yickers by scrum-half Boland and Haughey.

Amazingly, despite being a man down, Portico launched a blitz on the Haydock line in the final quarter. Indeed, they virtually camped in the home 25 for the last 10 minutes but they could not break a stubborn defence and Haydock held on to take the spoils.

Outstanding for Haydock were Bloor, Speed, Pearson, C. Ireland, N. Carroll and Cahalin, while for Portico the man-of-the-match went to the whole team for a superb against-the-odds effort.

Haydock B 22 West Craven 1

Haydock avenged their defeat by West Craven the previous week on a special occasion for Glynn Bradshaw who was made captain on his 400th appearance for the club.

The homesters scored well-worked tries through Boardman, Livesley, Bradbury and Castle, plus three goals from Boardman to gain a well-earned victory.

Outstanding for Haydock were Broughton, Bradbury and Castle.

Haydock are on the look-out for a qualified first-aid person to help out on Saturdays with the first team. Anyone interested can contact Frank Bradshaw on 01744 637054 or Eric Smith on 01744 601099.