Sandbach 49 Winnington Park 7

11:15am Wednesday 19th December 2007

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PARK slipped into the relegation zone after a crushing reverse.

That they have swapped places with neighbours Northwich will only add to their rancour after a clash clouded by poor discipline and dubious refereeing decisions.

Sandbach were merciless in making the most of their opponent's misery.

Yet Park started the brighter of the two teams, dominating possession through well organised and aggressive set pieces.

Ian Moriaty was superb in the line, while Will Burgess was ruling in the scrums.

But frustratingly Winnington were unable to convert their pressure into points before match official Jed Stone took centre stage to change the course of the game.

Experienced hooker Matt Dodd was sent off for an alleged punch, much to the amazement of players on both teams, forcing the visitors to reorganise.

They competed well until Mark Warr was sin binned for coming on from the side of a maul.

The south Cheshire side ran in four tries in the time Warr stood on the sidelines to all but end the game as a meaningful contest.

Park's youngsters showed no relent in their determination and endeavour but they were always chasing the game and their adventure inevitably left gaps in the defence that clinical Sandbach exploited, running in a number of late tries to further inflate their margin of victory.

The visitors did manage a consolation try thanks to a superb individual effort from Ben Elliot but by then the game had long been over.