NORTHWICH RUFC’S winning run continued on Saturday as the Moss Farm crowd was treated to a thriller.
Blacks and visitors Burnage played out a staggering game that saw 12 tries scored, but it was the hosts who edged to a 43-40 victory.
On two occasions, Northwich were subjected to fightbacks having built comfortable leads but they withstood a late barrage to secure a third victory in a row.
After the visitors opened the scoring, Blacks responded well as Zak Richardson and Juan Smit touched down within three minutes of each other, with debutant Alex Speakman on target with both conversions.
Burnage levelled matters by crossing from a well-executed rolling maul, but then came the first of the Northwich bursts.
A fine move sent Quinlan Watson over in the corner before man of the match Jonathan Knipe collected a clearance kick and evaded all would-be tacklers to score a fantastic solo try.
Speakman’s conversions took his side into a 14-point lead but by half time, that had been wiped out by a pair of Burnage scores to send the sides into the break level at 28-28.
Northwich started the second half well and having secured the ball from an attacking lineout, they drove for the line and Smit touched down for the second time.
Speakman missed the conversion but later added a penalty and when Tim Balogun crossed for a fine try, the hosts had carved out a seemingly decisive 15-point lead with just 10 minutes remaining.
However, Burnage were far from done – an unconverted try cut the lead to 10 points and sparked a period of intense pressure and when a converted effort narrowed the deficit to three points, Northwich had to withstand a late onslaught to secure a breathless victory.
Northwich sit third in the Regional Two North West table ahead of a trip to the Isle of Man to face Douglas on Saturday.
Northwich: Rory Leijdekkers, Gihard Visagie, Tshipane Mthemby, Harry Bennett, Nat Stafford, Tyreek Naicker, Juan Smit, Damola Ayanlaja-Lowo; Zak Richardson, Alex Speakman; Toby Moss, Jack Owens, Quinlan Watson, Tim Balogun, Jonathan Knipe. Subs: Tom White, Will Fernley, Sean Tigere
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