Pilkington Recs 54 West Bank 20 RECS produced some free-flowing rugby to record their first victory of the season in tropical conditions at City Road.

Two seasoned campaigners Jonny Smith and Shaun Allen got the show on the road making piercing breaks that set up the position for John Rees to feed strong running Mark Leadbetter who crossed to score wide out.

Recs were in again three minutes later, this time Neil Brooks and Graham Cranley were the providers before Smith put loose forward Mike Dennett through a gap. He rounded the full-back with ease to score beneath the posts. Craig Burrows converted.

On quarter time the visitors got over for an unconverted try through a chip and collect, but minutes later a quick penalty tap from Burrows saw supporting prop Ian Connolly offload back to his skipper who burrowed through for a try. Burrows tagged on the conversion to his try.

The home side were now in the ascendancy, quick hands saw Smith and Andy Crehan offloading before busy stand-off Neil Brooks found himself running into space to score also under the posts, Burrows tagged on two more points.

Just to keep Recs on their toes the visitors were next to score through another unconverted try.

The heat was energy sapping and the use of substitutes became very important. Five minutes from half-time debutant substitute Barry Ledger who showed good speed from a scrum to feed winger Jason Ledger who powered in wide out, increasing Recs lead to 26-8 at the break.

Recs were alert from the kick off in the second half, good forward drives put them once again in position territory. From a play the ball centre Darren Haigh eyed a gap and his diagonal run rewarded him with a try. Burrows again converted.

Following a quieter passage of play, Recs broke into action on 20 minutes when Barry Ledger stepped around three tacklers to score, two additional points came courtesy of Burrows.

After the visiting hooker crossed for a converted try, Recs responded through good work from Chris Hillam and Burrows, before Brooks raced through for his second try.

Soon after with Recs now in determined mood, Burrows also crossed for his second try after chipping through and collecting his own kick to score under the uprights This time Barry Ledger kicked the goal.

On 30 minutes from a scrum win Brooks now playing at scrum half, worked the blind side and found supporting wingman Jeff Albin with a perfect pass. Albin hared down the wing to run 60 yards to score. Burrows kicked his sixth goal of the match.

The final score of the game went to West Bank who never gave up.

In a good Recs team display, the Specialist Fireplace man of the match award went to hard working full back Chris Hillam

Pilkington Recs under 15s 24

West Bank 4

Pilks started their season with a good all round team performance. They took a 20-4 lead before half time. After the interval West Bank came out in determined mood, but Pilks defence remained firm, and they were able to extend their lead. Pilks tries came from Peter Cook (2), Paul Edgerton, Ste Tickle and Simon Mather.

The St Helens Roofing man of the match awards went to Ste Rawsthorne.

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