Heaton Moor Senior Colts 12-0 Southport

In wet and windy conditions, Heaton Moor prepared for their Lancashire Cup quarter final with a hard-fought victory over a tough Southport side.

It was a very even battle from the first whistle but as both teams tried to open things up, handling became the issue and and both sides struggled to put scores on the board.

Moor received an early blow when skipper Dec McGeehan received a yellow card for a deliberate knock-on.

Terrific work by Shane Ennis and James Bellis and some lovely handling by Dom Rafferty and Joe Kilbride laid a platform and two minutes before they were due to revert to the full complement, the former playing in Charlie Pinhorn in for a brilliantly worked try.

That remained the only score of the half but didn’t do justice to the sterling efforts by both sides in an absorbing contest.

The second half was just as tight as Southport reappeared with renewed vigour but Heaton Moor Colts were in no mood to succumb.

Each time Southport pressurised, Moor found the answers and kept them at bay, and 10 minutes in Joe Kilbride hit a post with a penalty.

The next ten minutes were a total Southport onslaught as they tried to break Moor down. Just when it looked like they were going to score, camped on the goal-line, a massive team effort from the home side forced a huge turnover.

Asa Bottomley broke ranks, kicked forward and as the ball neared the Southport line, the full back fumbled. Both Bottomley and Dylan Starkie pounced and the try was given to Starkie. Joe Kilbride added the conversion for the final score of the day.

The two teams could meet again in the Lancashire Cup but first Heaton Moor head to Old Aldwinians for the quarter-final on Sunday.