AN under-strength Hawcoat Park suffered a blow in their efforts to avoid relegation from the North Lancs/Cumbria League after going down 77-5 away to Aspatria.

Travelling with only five first-team regulars, with the rest of the squad made up of A-team players, the Maroon and Whites showed great commitment levels against the league leaders from the north of the county.

However, there was to be no repeat of the close-fought 18-17 loss in the home fixture as Hawcoat never recovered from going behind after just two minutes when Aspatria's Lee Tinnion finished a move from a line-out.

Two tries from Patrick Noutch, Tinnion's second, plus further scores from Craig Foster, Fraser McNee, Greg Dickinson and Gary Hodgson saw Aspatria seal the bonus point early on and go into half time leading 41-0.

Despite the scoreline, Aspatria had not had everything their own way in the first half. James Dallimore and Rodni Odondi both pulled off last-gasp try-saving tackles, while Adam Grainger, Alfie White and Andy Kent all made good breaks and Chris Burns – playing out of position at fly-half – controlled the limited ball Hawcoat earned well.

Meanwhile, A-team prop Ryan Brown put in a great 80 minutes shift on his debut for the senior side, and was well-supported by Harry Higgins and Rory Sayle.

Indeed, it was Hawcoat who were first to score when play resumed, with Calum Ramsay making a break from the centre and setting up Chris Burns for an unconverted try.

That would prove to be the away side's only score of the match though and matters were not helped when lock Kent was forced off due to an ankle injury.

His replacement was club stalwart Steve Slater, whose presence alongside A-team captain Martin Kennedy took the combined age of the second row to over 100 – coming not long after both had recently returned from serious surgery.

But further tries from McNee, Hodgson, Tinnion, Henry Jonker, Andrew Miller and Ryan Scott completed a comprehensive victory for Aspatria.

Hawcoat will aim to rebound from this loss when they make the trip to the side just above them in the table, Eccles, in a re-arranged game this Saturday.