HE said beforehand Winnington were favourites, but Northwich manager Yan Cartman was happy to be proven wrong after Saturday’s success.

On Friday he felt in-form Park, victors in each of their five previous league matches, could be confident of beating a Blacks team depleted by injuries to its key players.

The veteran prop need not have worried.

He said: “I’d fooled myself. The lads rose to the occasion – it was great to see.

“We had a plan to be aggressive, to tackle hard and stop them from getting into their stride considering how many tries they’d been scoring.

“It was important we got in their faces, and every one of our lads could come off that pitch with their heads held high.

“They weren’t expected to win, but I felt we were the better team for most of the game.”

He saved praise for Chris Heywood who, on his final appearance before a move to Australia, executed a try-saving – and given the late stage of the game, a match-winning – tackle on Winnington skipper Harry Stubbs.

Cartman said: “It’s all the lads talked about afterwards.

“It’s one of those moments that will be remembered and rightly so.

“Chris has been a great servant to the club – if he was a boxer, he’d be constantly fighting above his weight. But his heart is as big as anybody’s.

“It could prove to be an important marker in our season too, because it would have been tough to take had we lost after playing so well.”

Flanker Grayson Thyne, from New Zealand, made his debut for Northwich only hours after stepping off a plane.

His promising performance, plus words of encouragement from club legend Tim Wilding in the changing room before kick-off, contributed to Blacks’ showing.

Cartman added: “Grayson caught a different flight so arrived earlier than expected.

“I’m not sure he knew what he was letting himself in for, but he got stuck in and showed flashes of the class we’ve been told he has.”

To read a report on Saturday's match, click here: http://bit.ly/1DbA6fj