BENNY Elliot’s late touchline conversion struck a post and left Winnington Park with a 28-27 home defeat to Douglas.

Park, seeking their third win of the season, led for much of the game – only going behind in the 69th minute.

Some unforced errors led to the Isle of Man side scoring a breakaway try to get their noses in front 28-22.

Then with three minutes remaining, Elliot saw an opportunity, switched direction, made a break and passed to Charlie Hyde for a try that got Park back to within a point but the victory was not to be.

The hosts established a 16-7 lead by the interval.

Following a couple of forward drives, Matt Treacy scored the first converted try from close quarters.

Douglas responded in kind on 18 minutes but from the restart Park worked hard to close down Douglas and were awarded a penalty on the 22 which Elliot converted for 10-7.

Two Elliot penalties punished Douglas’ indiscipline but the visitors made the most of a missed tackle early in the second half to cut the gap to 16-12.

Two Elliot penalties were matched by Douglas as the score moved on to 22-18.

The game was in the balance with both sides misfiring and errors hurting.

Douglas landed another penalty to reduce the arrears to one point before crossing for the decisive try.

Winnington: Jack Williams, Charlie Hyde, Chris Twigg, Will Morrillo, Tom Merrick, Benny Elliot, Cameron Flanagan, Jack England, Dan Williams, Gary Dykes, Ben Cann, Matt Treacy, Shaun Underdown (Captain), Justin Oles, Tom King, James Wood, Josh Gledhill and Jake Cornwell.