NORTHWICH were punished for sloppy facets of play as they were defeated 42-32 at home by Wirral on Saturday.

Although the home side produced periods of dominance, especially after the break, two instances of being caught napping proved costly and the ensuing 12 points handed victory to Wirral.

The second of those came with Wirral three points ahead with four minutes of normal time remaining.

A wild pass from a promising break ended in touch on the Blacks 22, but while the home players hesitated a quick throw found Wirral stand-off Harvey to go in for an unopposed try between the posts.

One pleasing aspect was that Northwich didn’t concede three late tries in the final quarter as they had done in previous league games but they were guilty again of being slow out of the blocks with Wirral establishing a seven-point lead within the first two minutes.

Parity was restored when Ethyn Martin danced his way through to score a brilliant individual try, with skipper Nick Baldwin adding the extras.

However, Blacks frailties were exposed a further three times in the first half when preventable tries were handed to the visitors.

Baldwin landed two successful penalties before powerful Polynesian prop Matt Lafeta scored from close range on the stroke of half-time.

The re-start was a disaster for the home side when winger Burrows scored after following up a penalty attempt that hit the bar and rebounded into the field of play.

Long- term injured hooker Jordan Clarke entered proceedings and transformed the home side in both the tight and the loose.

Martin and Lafeta both scored their second tries, Baldwin converting the former, as the scoring was levelled up.

But a penalty and then the final act cost Blacks dearly.

The match ended on a sour note when Northwich lock Josh Warburton received a red card after the final whistle for violent conduct.

Next up are high flying Rossendale.

Northwich: Ehtyn Martin; Tom Husband; Martin Austen; Joel Barber; Willi Du Randt; Nick Baldwin; Richard Hart; Matt Lafeta; Mike Gough; Rory Leidekkers; Josh Warburton; Tom Clarke; Johnny English; Sammy Naylor, Tom White; Jordan Clarke; Liam Batt; Aaron Collins.

Meanwhile, Winnington Park lost 36-25 at Glossop with overseas hooker Justin Oles making a solid debut at hooker.

Glossop were 14-0 ahead inside 10 minutes but Park responded when neat handling from scrums allowed Charlie Hyde and Alex Burrage to cross, with Benny Elliot converting once.

The hosts cashed in on a missed tackle to turn around 19-12 in front but an Elliot penalty cut the gap to four points only for Glossop to respond in kind.

On 57 minutes Park struck again with the forwards creating a great platform for the backs to attack the Glossop line leading to Hyde touching down.

Five minutes later Park went ahead for the first time with a sublime try from Elliot making it 25-22.

The lead was shortlived as Glossop struck back four minutes later with a converted try and Glossop sealed the win with a couple of minutes to go with another converted try.

Winnington: Chris Twigg, Charlie Hyde, James Wood, Will Morrillo, Alex Burrage, Benny Elliot, Cameron Flanagan, Ross Morrin, Justin Oles, Shaun Underdown (Captain), Dave Cross, Jake Cornwell, Gary Dykes, James Johnson, Jack England, Ben Thorn, Bruce McGrogan and Gregor Purves.