Farnworth 26 Pilkington Recs 6

RECS bowed out of the Lancashire Cup against high-flying Premier League side Farnworth, but they were far from disgraced as they stayed with their opponents for much of the contest.

Farnworth scored first after just six minutes when their burly prop forward plunged through on the last tackle for a converted try by the posts.

Led by forwards Andy Crehan, Ian Connolly, John Rees and Darren Haigh, Recs enjoyed plenty of territorial advantage and on 25 minutes they drew level. Full-back Chris Hillam and Crehan made good yardage before scrum-half Dave Price, making his first appearance of the season, found a gap and raced 25 metres before drawing the full back and sending the supporting Craig Burrows in for a try beneath the posts which he converted himself.

In the period up to half-time Recs pressed to take the lead, with centres Mark Leadbetter and Andy Traverse both going close and substitute Stu Mansfield also prominent.

But it was Farnworth who regained the lead right on half-time, against the run of play, with an unconverted try, again on the last tackle, making it 10-6.

And the homesters delivered a bodyblow to Recs' hopes by extending their lead two minutes into the second period with a converted try following a smart handling move.

Recs though were still playing well and a little more luck could have seen tries for Burrows, Price and substitute Gibson.

Two more well-worked tries in the final quarter secured victory for Farnworth, but, to their credit, Pilks didn't collapse and finished stronger but were unable to pierce a resolute defence.

In an encouraging performance by the visitors, prop-forward Andy Crehan was a tower of strength, collecting the Specialist Fireplace Supplies man-of-the-match award. Great contributions also came from John Rees, Chris Hillam, Andy Kilmurray and Craig Burrows.

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