Match report: New Brighton 47 Garstang RUFC 28

They started brightly, and in the opening 10 minutes, they had the majority of the territory and possession.

That was rewarded when Harrison Pickervance smashed over from close range to give them a 7-0 lead.

Unfortunately, things quickly unravelled over the next 20 minutes or so.

Having failed to deal with the restart following the try Garstang found themselves on the back foot and New Brighton capitalised by going through several phases before crossing.

Three tries followed in the space of the next 15 minutes and that, coupled with the fact that Garstang lost key two players in Ainsley Pye and Pickervance, meant things looked bleak as they trailed 26-7.

However, Gavin Barton got them back into the game when he made a typical break to go over under the posts and make it 26-14.

With the interval approaching, Garstang looked to have got their belief and desire back and they pushed for another score.

They pushed a bit too hard, however, and saw a wide pass picked off by a New Brighton player who gathered and ran in to score from halfway.

Trailing 33-14 at half-time, Garstang came out firing at the start of the second half and they got back into it with an early score.

Adam Nickson broke through before getting half-tackled by the last man but he was able to offload to Freddie Hewitt, who picked up the ball off his toes and went over to score.

Duncan Lambert added the extras to bring the game back to life at 33-21.

Garstang were pushing hard, led from the front by David Miller and a late call-up in Lee Palmer.

The game tightened up but New Brighton’s sixth try with 15 minutes left snuffed out any hope of a comeback at 40-21.

Garstang continued to play and sought a fourth try for a bonus point.

It came as Chris Woodhouse made one of his trademark breaks, to carve through the middle and go under the posts.

However, the game ended as a contest when a midfield pass was picked off, leading to another converted try to end the scoring.