Blackbrook 32 Milford nil BROOK threw the form book out of the window to pull off a great BARLA BNFL National Cup victory.

And for the second successive week they stunned higher-ranked rivals from the Conference first division

The visitors were taken to finishing school by the rejuvenated homesters who ran in six sparkling tries without reply.

Blackbrook owed this victory to a huge performance from their forwards who made good ground with virtually every drive, and frequently put the visitors under pressure that they found difficult to contain.

And what a first team debut for Anthony Hatton who turned in a man-of-the-match performance from the stand-off berth and grabbed a brace of tries for good measure. But he was pushed all the way by half-back partner Andy Fisher and packmen Ian Buckley, Steve Moss and Steve Molyneux.

Backrow men Molyneux and Moss paved the way for Brook's opening try on six minutes and Buckley added the finishing touch. Molyneux made the initial break near half-way with Moss in support and prop forward Buckley moved up intelligently out wide on the left to finish the 50-metre movement with a try behind the posts. Alan Barker converted.

Scrum-half Andy Fisher was the next man in the picture with a long pass out wide to send Alan Barker away on the right flank. The Brook wingman burst through an attempted double tackle on the visitors 20-metre line before touching down near the corner. Blackbrook continued to assert pressure on the visitors line and on 22 minutes they got the breakthrough they sought when Anthony Hatton wrong-footed the Milford defence to stroll under the posts, Alan Barker added the conversion.

With barely two minutes of the half left Brook grabbed a fourth try to open up a 22-point advantage at the break. A fine touchline run by second row man Steve Moss set up a good position on the visitors' 20-metre line, which centre Gareth Hill skilfully exploited by wrongfooting the defence before touching down behind the posts. Alan Barker converted.

Blackbrook pulled further away from their rivals early in the second half with a second try from Anthony Hatton and Alan Barker put the game well out of the visitors reach at 28-0 with the easy conversion.

In an incident-packed final 15 minutes or so Blackbrook had a player sin-binned before Mike Maloney swooped on a dropped pass in midfield and kicked ahead before outstripping two defenders on a 45-metre diagonal run to score in the corner.

Almost immediately, with tempers rising, both sides had a player dismissed following an incident in midfield before play resumed with a free-kick to the homesters.

Anthony Halton received the Blackbrook/Construction Power Services man of the match accolade. Blackbrook A 30 Parr Hare and Hounds 14 After a dismal start to the season Blackbrook A have now rediscovered the art of winning matches. Following a recent run of successes and a convincing victory against third placed Shaw last Saturday, they picked up another two valuable league points in the NW Counties third division with a 30-14 success against neighbours Parr Hare and Hounds on Saturday.

The first half was evenly contested as the 8-6 half time scoreline suggests. Hounds looked quite capable of pulling off a shock win as both sides battled for supremacy in the first half and it was midway through the first period before Brook eventually broke the deadlock with a try by Keiran Lacey. Then Alan Fletcher and Andy Tucker linked up effectively to send Phil Mustard in for a try.

But the Hounds hit back with a fine try, engineered by Mike Bacon and Ian Marsh, and scored by Mike Corrigan. Ian Marsh reduced the deficit to two points at 8-6 with the conversion.

The second half started with an exchange of penalties from Andy Benson (Blackbrook) and Ian Marsh (Hare and Hounds).

But the turning point of a very close game came midway through the second half, courtesy of a long range try by Brook's Keiran Lacey, Benson added the extras, and a penalty goal minutes later, to put the homesters 18-8 ahead.

But the Hounds hit back strongly and forcing Brook to complete an 18 tackle sequence near their own line before they eventually broke free to extend their lead with a try by Stuart Wright.

Parr hit back with a try by Mike Bacon goaled by Ian Marsh, but the homesters had the final say with a Benson penalty goal and a try from Andy Tucker who rounded off a seven-man handling movement with the best try of the game.

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