A NIGHTMARE first half put an end to Winnington Park’s proud home record on Saturday.

Prior to the visit of second-placed Rochdale, Park had won their past six games at Burrows Hill and eight of nine on home soil throughout the season.

However, the high-flyers showed no sign of being overawed in a dominant display before the break that saw them lead 52-7 at half-time.

To Park’s credit, they mustered a determined response in the second half and kept their visitors off the scoresheet before eventually falling to a 52-33 loss.

Rochdale scored their first try in the game’s opening seconds and added another before Alex Glendinning sidestepped two defenders to get Park on the board.

Then came the visitors’ purple patch as they ran in six more tries without reply to have the game won by the interval.

One of Park’s responses was to bring on Harry Stubbs and he ran in a second-half hat-trick of tries to ensure the hosts went away with a four-try bonus point.

Skipper Shaun Underdown had the final say as he crossed from a driving maul, but Park’s fate had long since been sealed.

Matt Farr’s men remain fifth in the North Two West table with three games left, starting with a trip to Leigh on Saturday.

Squad: Shaun Underdown, Andrew Evans, Ross Morrin, Ben Cann, Joe Cook, Matt Treacy, Alex Glendinning, Gary Dykes, Matt Cross, Cameron Flanagan , Chris Twigg, Will Morrillo, Jack Johnson, James Johnson, Lee Allmark, Ashley Harding, Kieran Taylor, Harry Stubbs