North West Counties Division One

Higginshaw 40

Widnes Albert 32

THE Albert put in a tremendous performance and only went down in the closing minutes of what was a remarkable match.

Graham Karalius, back after injury, stamped his authority on the match when he scored with his first touch of the ball after following up his own kick. Alan Faulkner added the extras.

Higginshaw then moved the ball wide for their winger to race 50 yards for a fine converted try. They took the lead with a converted try. This plus a couple of penalties gave the Oldham side a 16-6 lead.

The Albert bounced back when superb running and backing up resulted in Karalius claiming his second try.Time after time the Albert's big front-row of Leech, Hankin and Snowling punched holes in the homeside's defence enabling Karalius to make the break before handing on to Faulkner who put Whitfield over in the corner.

On the stroke of half-time Ste Hankin went over from half-back for his first try for the club. Faulkner converted.

Strong running by Karalius in the second-half saw him go under the posts for his hat-trick. Faulkner goaled making it 26-16.

Higginshaw's outstanding hooker went over for a try. Their winger soon claimed his second try, both getting converted.

A dropped up-and-under by Albert was collected by Snowling who fed Faulkner who put Whitfield over in the corner for his second try. He added a magnificent touchline conversion.

Higginshaw got their noses in front when their stand-off went behind the posts for a converted try. With the Albert tiring Higginshaw added a final try giving them a flattering 40-32 victory.

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