NORTHWICH RUFC remain firmly rooted at the bottom of Regional 2 North West at the halfway point of the season.
With nine defeats from 11 outings, including the weekend’s 32-19 fall at second-placed Sandbach, Blacks will host fifth-placed Altrincham Kersal on Saturday, kick-off 2.15pm, currently six points adrift of the side above them – Winnington Park.
Northwich, who were without the notable services of Curtis Finnegan, Levy Nzoungou and Rory Leijdekkers at Bradwall Road, were behind to a penalty goal after two minutes and an unconverted try from a drive following a lineout eight minutes later.
Sandbach added another when an attacking scrum on the 10-metre mark laid the foundations.
With five minutes remaining of the half, Oscar Malik chipped the defensive line, Tsatsane Boitumelo gathered the ball and fed Richard Dale to score Northwich’s opening try which Tom Husbands converted.
However, there was still time for Sandbach to respond as they exerted a tremendous amount of pressure and were rewarded with a fourth unconverted try for a 20-7 interval lead.
Ten minutes into the second half a Sandbach clearance kick was not dealt with by Northwich and the kindest of bounces gave the hosts the easiest of converted tries.
With the 60-minute mark approaching Sandbach were awarded a penalty on the halfway mark and from a quick tap a mesmerising run led to another unconverted try.
As the match entered the final stages Blacks won an attacking lineout and they drove for the line, Tom White peeling off for a well-deserved try converted by Tom Husbands.
Five minutes later a scrum gave Northwich the opportunity to put some width on the attack and following a series of carries Patrick Douglas forced himself over the line.
In the final throws Blacks still had an opportunity to take a bonus point and following a good build up they were thwarted by some resilient defence.
This was a match that should have given Northwich a least a losing bonus point but they could not convert all their opportunities into points.
