Week 18 January 21st
Anselmians win again and a rare Rochdale triumph at LSH were the highlights in this week of rearranged fixtures. The Saints from Anselmians need to win against the other strugglers and also target the mid table teams if they are to escape the drop. They are doing just that and their win against Wilmslow followed victories against Leigh and earlier season wins against Broughton Park and Wigton. They are within just 5 points of the three teams above them now and anything is possible.

Rochdale have been slipping down the table but this week-end they won away at LSH and they join Wirral on 39 points after Wirral lost at home to Sandbach. Leigh had absent players back in harness, and were back to winning ways with a good result against visitors Broughton Park. Widnes came from behind to win against Wigton.

Widnes 27-8 Wigton
In the end it was a comfortable margin but Wigton paid dearly for indiscretions after leading for much of the first period. Widnes scored a try in the 1st minute when Gareth Riley crossed for Leadbetter to convert. Wigton were not outplayed however and Gregg Smith kicked a penalty and then scored a try to edge the visitors a point ahead. It was just before the break before Leadbetter kicked a penalty to allow the home side to change ends 10-8 ahead. Widnes started the second period strongly but it was two yellow cards for Wigton that changed the game around. Kevin Leadbetter and Andrew Riley immediately scoring good tries for the home side. 22-8 at this stage and a quick throw in by Widnes caught Wigton off guard and saw Kevin Leadbetter score an easy try wide out. Widnes go second in the table with a game in hand on LSH.

Anselmians 21-13 Wilmslow
Malone Field was the venue for this match with Anselmians looking to repeat last Saturdays win against Leigh. Wilmslow were the visitors this week, and it was Wilmslow who went ahead when Bob Macallum kicked a penalty. Simon Mason drew his side level but The Saints then went a man down for 10 mins but they seemed to draw inspiration from this setback and went ahead through skipper Paul Hellier's try after very good work from his pack. Matt Pennington then crossed again in a replica move for the home side and at 13-3 half way the Saints looked good for a second January success. After the break Wilmslow kicked a further penalty but Hellier for Anselmians replied with a second try before Mason added another penalty to reach 21-6.

In the closing minutes Wilmslows forwards were rewarded for their afternoons toil when a training ground line-out, catch and drive took them across the line. The trusty boot of MaCallum converted butAnselmians were home and dry 21-13. There are just 4 points between these two sides in the league table but Wilmslow have a game in hand on their rivals.

Leigh 31-0 Broughton Park
A welcome return to form for the Leigh connections who won emphatically against Park who are slipping down the table. Leigh were even prepared to concede home ground advantage to get the fixture played. Despite the return to availability of Parks speedster Ade Titiloye and Jonny Thomas the rampant Leigh side racked up a 4 try bonus within the first half an hour with Calvin Crompton returning to the team, grabbing a couple and Eccles (who has also been unavailable of late) getting another try. A Chris Morgan charge down was converted by the reliable boot of Tom Foreshaw who knocked over two other conversions. Peter Ince was creating havoc for Leigh and his pass to Crompton for the bonus try was exquisite. There was little to compare this performance from the Leigh outfit that crumbled at Anselmians just one week earlier.A better second half from Park but it was better because they only conceded one more try. Adam Dyson crossing the chalk after full back Paul Wilcock had done all of the hard work. Park expect one further first team player to return next week for the trip to Rochdale but this was a sixth consecutive defeat for the Hough End lads and they need the confidence that a win would surely inject into the squad.

Liverpool St Helen's 19-21 Rochdale
This result confounded just about all of the participants in the Aspatria Prediction League as Dale turned the form book on its head. With a stiff wind behind them LSH were off the mark sharply with a smart try by Alex McClurg and then a typical back row try by in form LSH no 8 Phil Kearns. The boot of Liam Ratcliffe was able to convert both tries. 14-0 but Rochdale got onto the scoreboard after turning ball over and James Flitcroft scored but LSH were soon celebrating a third try when the alert Ian Stanley found room to score. Perhaps the turning point of this very even match was just before the break when Rochdale's Dom Macklin finished of a good move to go over in the corner. At 19-10 the freezing cold LSH faithful will have been concerned that the gale would be in their faces for the following 40 mins. Dale belied their lowly league position and gradually worked their way forward. A Bradwall penalty was followed by another Flitcroft try but they were still 19-18 behind. To the dismay of the watching Moss Lane faithful, an unnecessary penalty was conceded and Bradwall made no mistake to win the game for his side.

LSH were left to regret not having made more use of the elements in the first half but Rochdale move away from the drop zone.

Wirral 7-34 Sandbach
Sandbach stretch their lead to 19 points in the table with a fine performance at Wirral. The manner of their victory suggests that they are indeed "accelerating through the tape" instead of sitting back on their laurels. Sandbach started with the wind behind them and are an early penalty miss their no 9 Bird took a quick tap penalty and fed Jack Seddon for an easy try. After a further few minutes the Sandbach wingers combined well and Sam Morris created the overlap for Jack Leech to cross the whitewash. 0-10 after two unconverted tries then and Cargill kicked a penalty before handing over the kicking duties to Ben Elliot who knocked over a couple more. 0-19 at the break and Wirral had been run off their feet by the league leaders. Matters didn't Improve much when Rob Pearl was yellow carded and a forth Sandbach score from Ali Burton followed.0-24. On the hour mark the Wirral lads started to test the Sandbach defence with this time a yellow for the visitors. Jack Yarker for Wirral scored his first senior try and Harvey converted. Sandbach had the last word however when Jack Seddon went over with Ben Elliot adding the conversion to complete the scoring. An impressive performance by Sandbach who entertain Northwich next Saturday.