Ince Rose Bridge 10 Acorn 28

ACORN got back to winning ways on Friday night, playing at Ince Rose Bridge to accommodate those players who were venturing to Magic Weekend in Newcastle. The journey was worth it as they recorded a fine away win.

Acorn opened the scoring after 12 minutes. They put good pressure on the Ince Rose defence, before feeding Jack Byrnes. He received the ball and took the option to drive for the line, taking two tacklers with him and forcing his way over.

Acorn were slightly on top at this point, Ince only having had one opportunity to attack the line but coming up with nothing. What followed was an intense arm wrestle, with Acorn probably dominating but unable to break through.

On 35 minutes, Ince pushed to regain parity, only to try too hard. They forced the final pass, which was intercepted by Luke Swales, who was able to sprint 60 metres to score.

Ince started the second half brightly. Five minutes in, their winger had the opportunity to get in at the corner, only for Ryan Gallacher to make a try-saving tackle and bundle the player into touch.

Acorn went close next. Some great work from Harry Bromwich got them close to the line, before a deft little offload was adjudged to have been knocked on.

Ince Rose's goal line defence was much better than their offence and denied Acorn a couple of opportunities. On the hour mark however, the home side did find that gap in the Acorn defence.

A good line break came to nothing but from the resulting play, they shipped the ball wide for winger Kieran Eccleston to score an unconverted try.

Their confidence lifted and it took them only four minutes to score again. After getting a repeat set, Matthew Meaden managed to somehow get free in a tackle to score.

At 10-12, it felt like Acorn may now struggle, with the opposition being on top. However, the response was one of determination to maintain the upper hand.

Great ball control and endeavour across the line gave Matt Chilton the chance to exploit the defence with some great footwork and regain the advantage.

Acorn never looked like losing from this point, with Man of the Match Reece Rushworth showing what they missed from his recent absence, making more tackles and metres than anyone else. This type of effort is infectious and Acorn benefited from it.

With 10 minutes to play, Matthew Downes went on a marauding rampage. He was too strong for a tired defence and despite many attempts to stop him, he just kept getting up and eventually made it to the line.

As the clock ran down, there was one last opportunity for Acorn. Bromwich took on the defence and found Rushworth, who made the yards before offloading for Joe Budd to score.

Antony Chilton failed to add the extras on this occasion but that was the final result. A hard-fought but pleasing win for the 'Corn'.