Eccles 3rds 5-31 Carnforth

Carnforth took the lead after 10 minutes when Dan Blenkharn took a quick penalty before battling over the line for a try.

Five minutes later the home kicker scuffed his penalty kick, Matthew Short picked up behind his own try line before setting off up the field, cutting through the first three tackles, went back inside to take two players out of the equation before popping up a superb ball to flanker Jason Short on the home 22 who powered through to score a well-taken try, Matthew Short converting for a 12-0 lead.

On the stroke of half-time Carnforth scored again. A series of plays saw stand off Nick Hamer strike as he went through the last tackle to score, Matthew Short converting for a half-time 19-point lead.

Eccles came out fighting in the second half and their dangerous centre was able to glide through to give his side hope – the conversion was missed from under the posts.

However, a superb run from Joe Harrison saw him link with Sam Tomlinson, the ball came clear for Matthew Short to score in the corner, his conversion sailing through the middle for a 26-5 lead and the four points.

In the dying minutes again Harrison made the break – he and Sam Barlow linked out right before the ball was shipped along to allow Jason Short to surge through for his ninth try of the season to complete the scoring.