Acorn skittle Scorpions

The game was effectively won in the opening quarter when Acorn put their North West Counties challengers to the sword with a hat-trick blast which saw them take an unassailable 16-0 lead in nearly as many minutes.

The muddy conditions ensured a dour battle in which the best defence was always likely to prove the telling factor.

Acorn took the honours in this department with good tackling stints from impressive hooker Dave Norman, centre Alan Willitts, stand-off Andy Lee and as usual their captain and loose forward Lee Frank.

Points win games and Acorn had a glut of them early on, starting in the sixth minute when Norman capitalised on good approach play by Lee to throw two dummies and scamper over from 20 yards for a try which centre John Hough goaled.

Blackpool hit back almost immediately with a penalty from centre Chris Pearson but Acorn reasserted their dominance with a second try by Norman on 14 minutes.

The real game breaker came two minutes later when quick thinking by young scrum-half Johnny Waldron saw him take a quick tap penalty before racing 60 yards to notch Acorn's third try.

Hough added another goal to give Acorn a comfortable 16-2 lead.

Just before half-time Acorn were reduced to 12 men when Frank was sin-binned and Blackpool capitalised to score a try wide out through sub Steve Woodburn.

Pearson added the goal to leave Acorn leading 16-8 at the break.

The Blue and Golds continued their dominance after the re-start and on 57 minutes impressive prop Nicky Caldwell ploughed his way over for a try which Hough converted.

Hough himself then got on the try-scoring list when he followed up his own kick to score in the corner. The final score came in the 74th minute when Tim Wilcock won the race to Lee's huge downfield kick to get the try.

Another notable performer for Acorn was full-back Paul Sawyer, whose positional play was excellent.

Updated: 13:33 Monday, February 12, 2001