AFTER an army of groundsmen worked tirelessly to ensure the game went ahead, Winnington Park rewarded their efforts with a superb performance.

The wet weather had thrown their first game of 2022 into doubt but thanks to the ground staff’s work, the Burrows Hill surface was passed fit to host the game against Southport.

Despite not getting the all-clear until 10 minutes before kick off, Park were unaffected as they ran out 31-7 winners to make it three straight wins either side of the Christmas break.

Fly-half Cameron Flanagan scored 21 of Park’s points as he crossed for a try and kicked six goals – four penalties and two conversions.

Joe Cook and Alex Glendinning also touched down for Park, who now sit third in the North Two West table ahead of a trip to Tarleton on Saturday.

The hosts dominated from the outset and Southport’s indiscipline continued to give them chances, with Flanagan getting the scoreboard moving with three penalty kicks.

Just before half time, their first try finally came as dominance in the forwards led to Cook scoring, with Flanagan’s conversion seeing them into a 16-0 lead.

The second half started in a similar vain as Flanagan punished another infringement, but Southport did find some rhythm to get themselves on the scoreboard with a converted try.

That was as good as it got for the hosts, however, as Park wrapped things up with two more scores.

Will Morrillo broke through the line and drew a defender before offloading for Flanagan to score and convert before more excellent forward play led to Glendinning sliding through the surface water to complete the scoring.

Squad: Lee Allmark, Josh Allen, Will Morrillo, James Johnson, Alex Burrage, Cameron Flanagan, Matt Cross, Ross Morris, Andrew Evans, Shaun Underdown, Dave Cross, Ben Cann, Matt Treacy, Liam Gough, Alex Glendinning, Chris Southern, Joe Cook, Tom Wager