TYLDESLEY RU resisted a late challenge to beat Eagle 30-21and secure their berth in the second round place of the NPI National Cup.

With seven minutes remaining they had established a comfortable 23-point lead; the late burst merely made the scoreline respectable.

Lee Cunliffe and Howard Hughes grabbed early tries, the latter from a lineout dominated by Lee West all afternoon.

Dave Sivill added a goal, then another sweeping move down the left flank saw Mark Swanton go over the whitewash after a neat interplay of passes with winger Fraser MacIntosh.

Tyldesley continued to drive forward, the pack and backs combining well for 19-year-old winger Andy Dickenson to race in for his first try in a Tyldesley shirt. Eagle threw everything into attack after the break, but the Blues held the line well and Sivill jinked his way over.

The Warrington side came back strong - but too late.

In an outstanding performance Darren Edge, Howard Hampson and Craig Pulman had top games; stand-out shows also from Stewart Manning and Eddie Wallbank.

On Saturday (3pm) Windermere visit Well Street for a league game.

LEIGH RU crashed out of the NPI Cup in a dramatic 19-18 defeat by Blackburn.

But it could have been so different had one of Mark Hudspith's penalties and drops in the final 10 minutes gone over.

An Hudspith penalty was all Leigh had to show early on. Then, just before the break, Ross Fletcher broke clear for a terrific try, Hudspith goaling.

A well-worked try for Iain Wright put them in the driving seat, but, despite another Hudspith penalty, Blackburn inched ahead.

The game ended with Leigh on the attack.

Tofts beat Ruskin Park 49-5 with tries for MoM Yates, who grabbed a hat-trick, Egerton, Norman and Appleton. Porteous hit seven goals from seven.

Leigh face teams from Fleetwood this weekend.

1st XV (Fleetwood, A): M Hudspith; A Westwell, S Lee, D Darbyshire, R Fletcher; P Whitworth, C Marsh; C Cooney, S Young, T Westwell, S Haste, N Aspinall (c), C Hampson, A Bardsley, C Travers. Subs: S Davies, P Robinson, D Wright.

A Team (Fleetwood, A): I Westwell (c); I Wright, P Baker, D Finn, J Bridge; J Hutchinson, M Parker; C Leonard, P Deakin, C Innes, P Hewitt, S Browning, P Clarke, D Bullough, J Cabedo. Subs: D Penn, T Cartwright, K McKenna.

Extra A (Fleetwood, H): From S Sale, G Lloyd Jnr, R Lawson, J Will, T Ashurst, S Hollingsworth, L Schroeder, N Greenwood, N Hutchinson, R Davies, S Middlehurst, B Wright, L Thomas, G Lloyd, M Hilton, S Harrison, J Krause, G Erskin.

Tofts (Fleetwood, H): From J Porteous, D Leake, P Appleton, G Egerton, G Norman, S Leyland, B Yates, G Miller, J Ramsell, P Devall, G Butler, J Mills, A Penn, G Green, G Vickers, J Richardson, I Smith, K Pennington.

Vets (Pool, A): From S Taberner, P Bailey, M Lee, S Harper, S Culshaw, A Higson, N Hardy, T Trumble, S Jones, P Tustin, S Marsden, A Blackburn, D Taberner, D Phillips, S Ranson, S Monaghan, S Owen, C Boardman, T Sutton.

Converted for the new archive on 14 July 2000. Some images and formatting may have been lost in the conversion.