Winnington Park lose 34-26 to Firwood Waterloo at home

Park started the Regional 2 North West clash brightly, with Cameron Flanagan slotting two early penalties to give the hosts a 6-0 lead.

Firwood responded with a try from a driving maul and quickly added a second, taking advantage of a Park yellow card to move ahead 12-6.

Flanagan narrowed the gap with a third penalty, but the visitors kept the scoreboard ticking over and pulled further in front with a converted try from deep inside their own half, adding to a penalty goal and extending the lead to 9-22.

Park hit back just before half-time, with Lachlan Pethybridge finishing off a sustained attack to leave the score 14-22 at the break.

Firwood began the second half strongly, crossing the line twice in the opening 10 minutes.

One of their tries came from an interception on halfway, pushing the score to 14-34 and leaving Park with a mountain to climb.

The home side refused to give in.

A lineout just outside the Firwood 22 led to a period of pressure, and after several phases, Dan Williams broke through and offloaded to Robin Lowndes, who scored in the corner to bring the score to 19-34.

Park continued to press and were rewarded again in the closing stages.

Following another attacking spell, Williams ran a superb line and took a short pass from Pethybridge to score.

Flanagan converted to make it 26-34, but Park ran out of time as Firwood held on for the win.

Despite the defeat, Winnington Park were encouraged by another improved performance.

Winnington Park: Jacob Halstein, James Wilkinson, Dan Williams, Jack Williams, James Elliott, Cameron Flanagan, Lachlan Pethybridge, Robin Lowndes, Matthew Treacy (captain), Luke Westgate, Dylan McDonald, Harry Dodd, Joel Gaidan, Tom Coleman, Ross Morrin, Ben Thorn, Ethan Prosser, and Aiden Flanagan.

Winnington Park, who remain at the foot of the table, will look to build on this performance as they continue their search for a first win of the season.

The visit mid-table Widnes on Saturday.