NORTHWICH RUFC remain rooted to the bottom of their league and there is an urgent need to turn things around.
There were some positive signs in the 28-19 home defeat to second-placed Bowdon on Saturday and many felt a bonus point would have been justified.
But they remain three points behind fellow strugglers Eccles, who they host in Regional 2 North West on Saturday, kick-off 2.15pm.
There were some great performances from Northwich in particular Zac Richardson, Curtis Finnigan and man-of-the-match Rory Leijdekkers, while debutants Juan Smit and Musa Sili in the absences of Harry Naylor, Tom Husbands and Levy Nzoungou were both impressive throughout the match.
The match started well for Northwich as they applied pressure to the visitors’ line.
A scrum was powerfully driven and Richardson picked up the ball and carried it across the line for the first score.
Five minutes later an attacking lineout for Bowdon was turned into a maul. The drive was stalled but not stopped, leading to a converted try for the visitors.
On the 25th minute a Bowdon penalty extended their lead as they began to show some well executed patterns of play.
Nevertheless, as half time approached Blacks started to apply some pressure of their own.
Following an excellent build-up and a series of phases new boy Smit crossed for a try that was converted by Oscar Malic to recapture the lead.
This lead was short lived as in added time another Bowdon penalty gave them a 13-12 advantage at the break.
The second half began badly for Northwich.
The visitors’ willingness to run the ball at every opportunity was exploited with a quickly taken free kick.
Following significant pressure, they crossed the line to score a converted try and leave Blacks needing to raise the tempo to get back on terms.
However, this did not happen as Bowdon added a third penalty followed by another try on the 65th minute.
With 10 minutes left and 14 minutes adrift Blacks got a lifeline when a neat pass off an attacking lineout resulted in a converted try and a glimmer of hope for the home side.
Despite throwing everything at Bowdon, Northwich were unable to score again and the opportunity for a bonus point was lost.
