THESE are the memories Northwich players will want to treasure.

They have had to wait to get their hands on the trophy since being confirmed as champions a fortnight ago, a moment they savoured with a bumper crowd following the final whistle at Moss Farm.

Theirs was a performance that, in the end, put beyond all doubt who the best side has been in South Lancs/Cheshire Division One this season.

Visitors West Park had won their first dozen games, but still finish as runners-up some 20 points adrift of Blacks.

And the St Helens side led 16-11 at the interval after an absorbing first half.

They were swatted aside though in the second.

Martin Poste’s men, beaten in the reverse fixture in September, were in no mood to receive silverware with cheeks reddened by a first reverse on this pitch since the campaign’s opening day.

Other milestones were reached instead; this is a 21st successive league win, and Richard Dale’s try took them past 1,000 points for the term.

It was no afternoon stroll though; Northwich celebrations when Joe Maddocks barged over after the interval proved this game meant as much as the others.

West Park, who will contest a play-off to determine if they will be promoted too, defended with resilience in the opening period.

And in Warren Hunt, they possessed a first-class kicker.

He landed a hat-trick of three-point attempts, as well as converting a try from their most incisive move into opposition territory.

Northwich dominated possession, and tries went begging on at least two occasions when Robin Houghton and Chris James failed to hang on to a final pass.

However their persistence was rewarded a minute before the break when wing Anthony Davies touched down following a patient move from left to right.

Nick Baldwin could not convert, but a pair of penalties left the hosts within touch at the turnaround.

He slotted another from in front of the posts after the restart, then Maddocks charged to the line after fellow prop Michael Bradshaw turned over possession metres from the West line.

It was a catalyst for Blacks, ahead again for the first time since the fourth minute.

A defining moment followed after an hour, when Sam Naylor stretched to dot down a ball he had carried from one side of the pitch to the other following Richard Dale’s initial break.

Dale himself raced to the line after Chris Heywood intercepted a pass on the right, a try converted by Baldwin, before Heywood added his name to the scorecard from Robin Houghton’s assist.

Full-back Joel Barber added gloss with time running out, darting through a defence with ever-widening holes following a Northwich attacking scrum.

By then West’s players looked like those of almost every side to have visited since October; ragged, and well-beaten.

Northwich | Maddocks, James, Michael Bradshaw, Farley, Smith, Heywood, Naylor, Harrison, Poste, Bradshaw, Davies, Reilly, Richard Dale, Houghton, Barber Replacements Cartman, Underhill, Vaughan Tries Davies, Maddocks, Naylor, Richard Dale, Heywood, Barber Cons Bradshaw (2) Pens Bradshaw (3)