Latchford Albion 8

Bank Quay Bulls 34

LATCHFORD embarked on their Lancashire Cup third round clash desperate to avenge their Greenalls Cup defeat at the hand s of the Bulls back in August.

But Bank Quay's ability to turn pressure into points proved too strong for Albion, whose defence cracked at crucial times.

They soaked up some heavy early pressure on their own line before barging their way down the field through Paul Carroll and the outstanding Richard Ross set off on a jinking run, cutting inside three defenders on his way to the line.

Ross extended the lead with an almost carbon copy of his first score, successfully throwing the dummy to half a dozen players before crossing for the try.

Albion bravely fought back and when a great driving run from Mick Green created space on the wing for Andy Dean to score the second half was eagerly anticipated.

Even after Bank Quay threatened to kill the game off as Andrew Stephens set up a try for Lee Smith, Latchford hit back again moments later as good work from Glyn Taylor set Neil Guest crashing over to keep the scoreline down to 8-16.

But finally the greater pressure told and when Alan Clare was rewarded for a fine display with a try from close range the match was all but over.

The rest of the game was played in almost farcical conditions as the heavens opened and open rugby became impossible but the Bulls cruised past 30 points with tries from John Westwood and Ross, who completed a brilliant hat-trick.

Latchford Albion: Chris Buckley; Paul Dantith, Andrew Temple, Ian Fowler, Steve Warburton; Mark Lord, Tim Stuart; Aidey Houghton, Glyn Taylor, Mick Green, Sean Mellor, Matthew Flower, Neil Guest. Subs: John Hennessey, Andy Dean, Billy Rodney, Dave Potter.

Bank Quay Bulls: Lee Brown; Dave Hughes, Carl Turner, Lee Smith, Lee Williams; Richard Ross, Andrew Stephens; John Ruane, John Barrie, Paul Singer, John Westwood, Paul Carrol, Alan Clare. Subs: Alan Spencer, Steve Pucill, John Duckers, Stephen Caley.

Converted for the new archive on 13 March 2001. Some images and formatting may have been lost in the conversion.