NORTHWICH RUFC picked up perhaps the most impressive victory of their recent winning run on Saturday.

Prior to visiting Moss Farm at the weekend, Cheshire neighbours Macclesfield were in-form and the only team to have beaten runaway league leaders Blackburn this season.

In a high-scoring encounter, Blacks emerged 38-34 winners as they picked up their fourth win in a row in what was their final home match of 2022.

The hosts were outscored by five tries to four but the trusty boot of skipper Nick Baldwin helped to see them home.

Having conceded two tries in the first five minutes, Baldwin booted Northwich onto the board but a further Macclesfield score saw them 17-3 ahead.

Then, Blacks hit their stride – Tom White took Liam Batt’s offload to dive over before Batt, Jacob Goeppner and Ethyn Martin combined to send Martin Austen over and all of a sudden, the scores were tied.

After the break, Northwich moved into a 10-point lead and Baldwin was at the heart of it all.

First, his clever reverse pass put Scott Davidson over for a try before he kicked another penalty to seemingly put his side in control.

Back came Macclesfield, however, with a converted try and penalty of their own to level matters at 27-27.

As the game moved into its final stages, the home side made another grab for the lead and this time, it proved to be decisive.

Baldwin landed another penalty before Tom Husbands took a looping pass to the wing to touch down and put his side nine points ahead as well as securing a four-try bonus point.

Macclesfield tested home nerves by scoring again and launching a late assault to snatch victory, but they had to be content with two losing bonus points as Northwich held on for victory.

The victory leaves Blacks sitting eighth in the Regional One North West table and within touching distance of the top half.

They now finish the calendar year with two away fixtures – they travel to Manchester on Saturday before visiting Wirral in the final match before the Christmas break on December 17.