MATCH sponsors Bargain Booze of Sandbach had little to cheer this weekend as all four sides went down to stronger opposition. Club chairman Matt Alton was not too disappointed and commented on the incredible morale and spirit throughout the club at the moment and thanked Bargain Booze once again for their continued support. Club coach A Burton was pleased overall but warned that concentration must improve in key phases if real progress is to be made.

Sandbach 1sts 0 Wigan 22

ONE of the unfortunate features of modern rugby is how quickly a big score can mount against you, even in a close match! In their first league match Sandbach managed to hold a very strong Wigan side to just two tries. The excellent Wigan stand-off added the rest of the points with two drop goals and two penalties in the first half. On the positive side this was a much improved performance from the first team.

and with a sharpening of concentration and a little more tactical awareness this team could become something quite special.

Aspull 45 Sandbach 2nds 0

A mismatch of forward experience and strength condemned the spirited Sandbach side to 80 minutes of defensive play. Eventually going down to 9 unconverted tries, skipper Rob Davenport managed to keep morale high and will no doubt relish the return match later in the season. Finally it was great to see scrum half Chris Sutton in a Sandbach shirt again following his recent tour of duty in Northern Ireland and he'll be welcome any time.

Sandbach 3rds 15 Aspull 16

IN the closest match of the day, Sandbach failed to take the match despite their obvious superiority in the last quarter. General skills and support play was good but failure to move the ball quickly enough to the centres and wings probably reduced attacking options and lost the match.

Sandbach Vets 7 Wilmslow Vets 13

SANDBACH started slowly and paid the price by conceding two tries in the first 10 minutes.

They pulled themselves together, playing with much more conviction and managed to score a goal half-way through the first half.

A penalty at the end of the first half which would have put Sandbach level was narrowly missed and that proved costly.

Sandbach exerted immense pressure throughout the second half, but failed to score. Wilmslow sealed their victory with two late penalties.

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