AFTER a week of positives, Acorn’s world came crashing down around them with a heavy 46-12 defeat at the hands of fellow Kingstone Press National Conference League premier division strugglers Egremont Rangers.

The first 20 minutes provided great end-to-end rugby, with neither side giving any ground and opportunities being limited.

That all changed, however, with Egremont attacking strongly and finding the strength to crash over, second-rower Mathew Bewsher putting the visitors ahead and adding the extras.

Five minutes later, it was the turn of Kieran Glenn to exploit poor defending and make it 10-0, and soon after Egremont extended the lead further, this time courtesy of centre Leon Crellin.

On the half-hour, hooker Daniel Telford added his name to the scoresheet, and a successful conversion, followed by a penalty gave Egremont a 22-0 interval lead.

It looked an insurmountable lead but Acorn were the first to score in the second period when Antony Chilton showed his footballing skills to dribble the ball through the defence and pounce on the ball.

Acorn were battling hard but converted scores either side of the hour from Egremont scrum half Joe Bold and hooker Telford left the hosts trailing 34-6.

They responded on 69 minutes, though, with Jimmy Mountford taking on the defence and off-loading for Daryl North to touch down.

Egremont played with confidence throughout, rarely putting a foot wrong, and their efforts were further rewarded with late scores from Telford and full back Jack Stainton, both converted by Rangers' man of the match Bewsher.

For Acorn, Joe Porter took the plaudits.