NORTHWICH RUFC pushed title contenders Firwood Waterloo to the wire in a pulsating contest at Blundellsands that finished in a 42-37 defeat.
Blacks led 17-0 but by half-time Firwood had edged four points clear.
Scoring exchanged throughout the second period, with the hosts remaining narrowly ahead and Northwich not able to break Firwood again in the last 10 minutes to nail a winning score.
It was an epic battle between teams at either end of the Regional 2 North West table that left players and spectators breathless.
The effort from Northwich, who had been beaten 24-20 at home by Winnington Park the previous week, was fantastic as everyone played their part.
This was exemplified by the joint men of the match, Juan Smit and Harry Bennett.
The coaching team were delighted with the performance and while it was a disappointing result the two bonus points were some consolation.
Northwich, who were without the services of Tshipane Mthembu and Quinlan Watson leading to a reshuffle, controlled the first 25 minutes.
The first score came after 15 minutes when a lineout was secured, and Rory Leijdekkers peeled away to present Smit with the try-scoring pass. Harry Naylor added the extras.
Five minutes later Naylor kicked a penalty to extend the lead and then following an excellent build-up Jonny Pym forced himself over the line for a converted try.
With 10 minutes of the half remaining the initiative swung in favour of the home side.
FW laid siege to the Blacks line during which time Jonny Pym was presented with a yellow card when he strayed offside.
Three converted tries were conceded before the break a but a penalty from Naylor two minutes after the restart reduced the gap to one point.
As the second half progressed FW crossed for converted tries to stretch their lead to eight points three times and Northwich responded in kind twice, before Naylor’s 70th-minute penalty concluded the scoring.
Curtis Finnigan and Oscar Malik scored second-half tries converted by Naylor.
Rob Udwin, president of the RFU, was at Waterloo for the match.
Udwin, Northwich chairman Andy Naylor and the Northwich president Colin Johnson were seen deep in conversation about young players being lost to the game.
Northwich entertain Widnes on Saturday, kick-off 3pm.
