A Round-Up of all the action from the four NCL Divisions, including a Woolston Rovers v Crosfields Match Report.
Woolston Rovers 24 Crosfields 40 (Round 18) - Match Report:
Crosfields won through in the second Warrington derby of the National Conference League season thanks to a hat-trick from Luke Walker and a big performance from second row Alex Clutterbuck.
This Round 18 encounter in Division One saw some excellent open rugby played and three long range tries. The visitors made a strong start to the game with four converted tries coming in a sixteen minute spell.
Halfback Ben Steele burned off the cover on the right for the first after he decided to take the line on and Brad Stanway booted the first of six goals. Next a high kick from Stanway was contested by Walker and Stanway followed up to score and convert, making it 0-12 after 18 minutes. Just two minutes later, Walker grabbed the first of his treble, burting through the middle of the defence before his pace took him away from opposite number James Tarpey and Stanway converted.
Up until this point Woolston had been a distant second, despite the efforts of Adam and Harry Files, but with Ryan Palin and Jackson Phillips finding metres, they started to ask questions. A promising attack ended in points at the other end however when Clutterbuck raced out of the line and plucked a pass from the air before storming eighty metres for a score.
In the last ten minutes of the half Woolston flickered into life, and ran in three tries. Tarpey opened their account, taking Ryan Brown's pass to chime into the line and Craig Lawton goaled then the hosts scored two tries in three minutes. A mistake from Aaron Holliday was pounced on by Harry Files and he ploughed through for his 12th try of the season, then in the closing stages of the half, Adam Files picked his way through from dummy half, Brown supported and Tarpey finished for Lawton to close the gap further and make it 18-24 at half-time.
Buoyed by their finish to the first half, Woolston attacked well at the start of the second period and their confidence was growing until Ben Lomax intercepted ten metres from his own line and blazed the rest of the distance for a Crosfields score against the run of play.
The Steele-Walker combination was beginning to work and the Crosfields fullback crossed for his second try after 54 minutes with Stanway's sixth goal opening an eighteen point advantage, and things got better when Walker zipped in for his third try with fifteen minutes remaining after Steele's early pass. That made it 18-40.
Both teams became tetchy in the final ten minutes and two flashpoints brought red cards with referee Jordan Greenhalgh dismissing Holliday for Crosfields and Brown for Woolston. Woolston briefly threatened an unlikely comeback when switching play to the left just after the Holliday dismissal and substitute Rhys Brindley crossed for a well worked score, but Lawton's fourth goal proved the final score and Crosfields won 24-40.
The win keeps Crosfields in third spot in Division One, putting them two points clear of fourth placed Ince Rose Bridge.
National Conference League Round Up:
Elsewhere in Division One, Clock Face Miners collected a superb 22-18 win over play-off chasing Dewsbury Moor Maroons, a result that moves them level on points with both Stanningley and Hull Dockers.
In the Premier Division, Siddal tightened their grip on first place with a 106-0 success over undermanned Egremont Rangers, while Lock Lane claimed a last gasp 34-32 home win over Hunslet ARLFC to move them into a play-off spot. It has been a noteworthy upturn in form for the Castleford based side who were rock bottom and had lost each of their first seven games of the season.
Thatto Heath Crusaders also drew with second placed West Hull, with Rochdale Mayfield closing the gap in third spot.
Recent weeks in Division Two have seen two of the three promotion spots guaranteed with Shaw Cross Sharks and Wigan St Judes finding superb levels of consistency, but the battles for the remaining play-off spots and relegation look like they will go down to the wire.
Bottom side Myton won 38-18 against Pilkington Recs while Millom slipped into the bottom three for the first time this season after a 16-18 reversal against derby rivals Barrow Island. Dewsbury Celtic climbed to third after a 44-18 home success over Ellenborough Rangers.
Division Three also looks like it will go down to the final game as leaders East Leeds and second placed Distington both won against Seaton Rangers and Bentley respectively while Leigh East's play-off challenge faltered at Milford.
By Dave Parkinson
