FOLLOWING four defeats in their previous five away matches, Winnington Park could be forgiven for feeling at least a little nervous before travelling to Eagle.

A 72-7 thrashing of the same opponents back in September feels a while ago too.

They met a more resilient foe in the return, but still secured a bonus-point victory that keeps alive their hopes of catching rivals above them in the South Lancs/Cheshire Division Two table.

Park sit fifth ahead of a visit from Port Sunlight this Saturday, kick off 2.15pm.

And Roger Pickering’s men start that contest boosted by a victory that was only made safe late in the second half, when they ruthlessly punished lapses in concentration by their hosts to run in three tries.

Until then, the teams had been tied at 11-11 since before the break.

Winnington, as expected, applied most of the attacking pressure.

However, time and again their forward progress was halted by fierce tackling led by Niall Toher and Chris Jordan.

Cameron Flanagan kicked two penalties for the away side, and they improved their total midway through the opening period when hooker Josh Brown touched down.

Eagle rallied, and Nathan Taylor replied with a pair of three-pointers.

When Simon Counsell crossed, adding the finishing flourish to a well-worked move, the Warrington outfit were on level terms.

The scoreboard did not change for the next 25 minutes, until Danny Williams claimed a second score for Winnington.

Captain Dave Cross and Nic Clawson went over the whitewash too, with Flanagan adding the extras on each occasion, to settle the outcome with time running out.

On Saturday, they host guests that have lost four of their five fixtures on the road.

However they did record a surprise 23-22 victory against Park in their first meeting.