Hawcoat Park 34 Burnley 22

HAWCOAT Park moved out of the North Lancs/Cumbria League relegation places with a 34-22 victory over Burnley on a beautiful spring day.

The maroon and whites managed to achieve the five-point victory which was a must before the game, but they were pushed all the way by a very committed Burnley side.

Hawcoat started the game started well, and good driving runs by both props Paul Woodburn and Ryan Brown set the platform for good handling across the three-quarters for young Joe Dalton to show his promise by finishing out wide.

But any thought that this would see the scoreboard ticking around on a regular basis were soon dispelled. Burnley showed a steely determination and were putting up a real fight.

A couple of good clean breaks involving Dan White and George Smith should have resulted in tries, and after a good spell of pressure Burnley levelled the scores with a try.

Burnley were strong going forward but not quite as strong in defence, and after a couple of chances, including a try disallowed for a forward pass, Park got over the whitewash.

A neat pass from scrum-half James Howden set back row Mike Lightfoot free. He ran well and made good ground before passing inside to the supporting Adam Grainger who scored near the posts. George Smith slotted over the conversion.

On the half hour mark full-back Lewis Sayle timed his run into the line well, and after taking a pass from Chris Burns he raced through from 30 metres out for a good try, converted by Smith.

Burnley came back well and managed to reduce the decifit to 19-10 right on half-time and it was the visitors who dominated the first 15 minutes of the second half.

The experienced Dave Wynne came on as a replacement in the second half and his forceful running and keen eye for the try-line certainly made a difference.

Following good work by skipper Brad Morrow and John Donnan, playing his 100th first team game, the ball was moved out wide, and a good flat ball by Danny White freed up Wynne who did well to touch down in the corner.

Park’s nerves were settled in what had been a competitive contest when following good work by George Hilton and a final pass from Chris Burns, the hard-working Adam Grainger shot under the posts and add to his tally as top try-scorer this season. In attempting a quick drop-kick the conversion was surprisingly missed from under the posts.

Second row and man of the match Ashley Mowat was head and shoulders above all else in the last 15 minutes or so with a few of his typical barnstorming runs - one of which allowed some space for that man Wynne to go over again.

In fairness to Burnley, they never gave in and managed to grab two late tries to complete the scoring.

Park’s destiny is out of their hands and they face a nervous wait for the result of Eccles’s match at Tarleton next week. If Eccles win they leapfrog Hawcoat.