AFTER three successive defeats, Northwich are hurting – and literally so.

A lengthening injury list that includes Chris James (eye), Sean Phillips (nose) and Jimmy Reilly (elbow) is taking its toll on Blacks, particularly up front.

They have slipped to fourth in North One West as a result, although third-placed Wilmslow are only one point better off.

Martin Poste’s men opened the scoring on Saturday after full-back Will Du Randt collected a clearance before carrying the ball deep into opposition territory.

It was moved wide to James Underhill, and he broke decisively before sending captain Chris Dale to touch down in the corner.

However the hosts, on their best run of results so far this season, began to assert themselves afterwards.

They kicked for a lineout after their guests conceded a penalty, driving at the heart of Northwich’s defence once they secured possession.

It ended with a try, with the extras establishing a lead they would never relinquish.

Blackburn added to their advantage before the break, punishing Blacks for a knock-on.

From the resulting scrum, they applied pressure that led to a push-over try.

A conversion put them 14-5 in front at half-time.

The home team added a third converted score early in the second period, this time the reward for a multi-phase attack after getting hold of the ball from the restart.

Northwich rallied though.

A second try arrived on 52 minutes, fly-half Nick Baldwin exploiting a stretched defence by kicking cleverly cross-field for Richard Dale to catch and score out wide.

On the hour, they reduced the deficit further.

A charge after a lineout again presented Baldwin with an opportunity to kick from one side of the field to the other.

On this occasion Du Randt was on the receiving end, and he put Northwich in contention again at 21-15.

They could not maintain their momentum though, and Blackburn made sure of a victory when they kicked a late penalty after a visiting player had been caught handling in the ruck.

Northwich host Leigh, a side that has lost all of their away matches to date, at Moss Farm this Saturday.

Northwich | Hulbert, Vaughan, Thompson, Dudley, Smith, Heywood, Chris Dale, Naylor, Poste, Baldwin, Underhill, Barber, Richard Dale, Houghton, Du Randt Replacements Farley, English, Skinkis Tries Chris Dale, Richard Dale, Du Randt