Hawcoat Park 14 Tarleton 24

HAWCOAT Park were unable to boost their North Lancs/Cumbria survival cause as Tarlton completed the seasonal double.

The visitors – a young, mobile side, with pace in key positions and players who know their roles and play as a collective unit – produced a workmanlike team performance and were always in control.

The game followed a similar pattern for the Maroon and Whites, as they started the game well the first 15 minutes were played in the visitors' half.

With second rows Ash Mowat and Grady Slater leading from the front, the pack was driving hard at the Tarleton line, but the defence held out.

Park lost Mike Lightfoot, who had damaged a hamstring during the warm-up, and could not find clinical finishing to get over the line.

Winger Rob Sheppard went close, as did centre Chris Burns and Adam Grainger, but there were no points to show.

Buoyed by their defence, Tarleton had their own spell of pressure.

Callum Ramsay and Alfie White led the home defensive efforts, but eventually good hands from the visitors moved the ball to their pacey back row, who crossed for a converted try.

Tarleton cranked up the pressure and Park had to work hard to prevent them crossing again.

But just before half-time the same back row was on the end of another good team handling effort to score his second try , and a penalty on the stroke of half-time made it 17-0.

Playing their favoured way towards the clubhouse, Hawcoat started the second half pounding away at the Tarleton line.

Props Ryan Brown and Mike Gibson had solid games, particularly given a shortage of forwards meant they had to play the full 80 minutes, but again the Tarleton defence remained solid, looking to counter attack to good effect at every opportunity.

It was almost an hour into the game before Hawcoat graced the scoreboard, as a clean lineout catch from Mowat and an effective driving maul led to hard-working skipper Brad Morrow forcing his way over. Fly-half George Smith slotted over the conversion.

Lewis Sayle and George Hilton now made good runs, and a key moment came when, deep in the Tarleton 22, Park got hands on a charge-down of an attempted Tarleton clearance kick.

The ball went straight to a Tarleton player, who showed what they had been capable of all game by counter-attacking and moving the ball at pace to score almost a full length-of-the-pitch-try. To add salt into the wound, a touchline conversion made it 24-7.

Hawcoat showed good resolve and again pounded away at the determined Tarleton defence, with A-team centre Dave Wynne – helping out as a replacement and finding himself in the back row following injuries – forced his way over. Smith added another conversion.

Trying to get within seven points for an important losing bonus point, the hosts threw everything at Tarleton for the last five minutes, but it was not to be.