ew Springs 12 Westhoughton Lions U18s 52 THE Lions defence was the key to a well-earned victory.

Camped on their own line for most of the first half, it took three breakaway tries from Rick Wilcock, David Parkinson and Phil Meadowcroft, converted by Ryan Brierley, to take them into the break 18-0 up.

Wilcocks scored a try just after the break, which was converted, but a spirited fightback saw the Wigan side score two quick converted tries.

Lions stepped up a gear when it mattered with tries from the outstanding Drew Johnson, Jordan Burke and Jayden Sandford.

Man-of-the-match Brierley scored a hat-trick of tries and eight conversions.

Westhoughton Lions U12s 18 Widnes West Bank U12s 12 Lions outplayed a team which was in a higher division last season.

Strong defence and inventive attack were the keys to the victory with the workload being spread throughout the team.

Westhoughton took the lead when Scott Broderick broke intelligently and outpaced the defence to score under the posts, giving Chris Brownlow an easy conversion.

The Lions then took control with a forward drive out of defence allowing Aidan Mann to cut back across the line and release Ciaron Smethurst whose pace and swerve did the rest as he rounded the defence from 60metres to finish under the posts.

The home defence was at its best with Brandon Stott pulling off one of the tackles of the season as he brought down a much bigger opponent with a textbook challenge.

A touch of indiscipline enabled Widnes to barge over the line, but a great try from Joe Gornall made the half-time score 14-4.

A superb move saw the ball passthrough eight pairs of hands before Luke Dawson and Mann combined to release Gornall who timed his run perfectly and again outstripped the wide defence.

The Lions lost a little shape towards the end as Widnes scored two short-range tries, but a determined Westhoughton were not going to be denied.

Westhoughton Lions U10s 38 New Springs Lions 14 Westhoughton recorded their second win of the campaign against a spirited New Springs. Westhoughton were always in front and finished clear nine-try winners.

Gibbons scored four, Cloran three, and Wadsworth and Hall grabbed one each.