LOSTOCK continued their impressive and gritty form as they beat second-placed Thornton Cleveleys.

Lostock took the lead early with a Stuart Paul penalty.

Towards the end of an even and physical first half Lostock made a breakthrough with Warren Clough finding space behind the Thornton defence with a chip over and Ben Clough collecting to score his first try of the season.

Stuart Paul converted before Thornton piled on the pressure and gained some reward with a penalty conversion, leaving the half-time score 10-3. The second half continued to be closely-fought with both sides putting in some aggressive defence.

Lostock managed to put enough pressure on Thornton to force force them into giving away three more penalties which stretched the lead to 19-3.

Thornton continued to test Lostock's resolve but to no avail and Lostock held on to complete an impressive win.

There were notable performances from Karl Vines and Andrew Urmston who both played extremely well out of position, and Geoff Earle who produced some strong ball carries, and the man of the match was Stuart Paul whose kicking put Lostock in a strong position to win.