Saddleworth Rangers 18 Crosfields 16

TABLE toppers Crosfields suffered a second defeat in three outings and lost prop Dave Boden to a facial injury that has since needed surgery.

Soap, who host form side Oulton Raiders on their next appearance in National Conference League Division Two on Saturday, June 3, fell narrowly in a scrappy hard-fought game that was littered with errors, penalties and foul play.

"It was a sad sight to see Bowie leave the ground via an ambulance and he had corrective surgery on his nose after a shocking elbow to the nose that was not needed," said head coach Mark Brennan "Dave is now back home with his family and recovering. The club wish him all the best for a speedy recovery and I am sure we will see him back down at the club soon."

A positive for Crosfields, though, was that in a much-changed line-up Alex Clutterbuck and Josh Whitham impressed on their first-team debuts against a tough, uncompromising Saddleworth side who ground out the result.

"I can't fault the effort of our players, that was evident for the 80 minutes," continued Brennan.

"We were just a little bit off in parts in relation to timing of our attack and we did'nt control the ball well enough, making too many errors in what were tough conditions with the weather!

"To conceade just after the break did make us chase the game a little bit. Our defensive effort was good and we showed up for each other."

Whitham got his name on the score sheet, along with the returning John Pickersgill who crossed twice.

Unfortunately the conversion miss to Whitham’s try in the 70th minute proved to be the difference between the two sides.

Saddleworth, who were reduced to 12 men in the first half after the elbow on Boden, led 6-0 at half time courtesy of three penalty goals.

They led 18-6 with 20 minutes remaining before the second try from Pickersgill and Whitham's first in the Conference proved to be not quite enough for Soap.

Crosfields: Alex Clutterbuck; Josh Whitham, Chris Burgess, Chris Hull, Nathan Taylor; Jack Reid, John Whittaker; Tom Brown, Hayden James, David Boden, Jordan Chilton, Tom Millington, Joseph Clarke. Subs: Mathew Barber, Daniel Reid, John Pickersgill, Jordan Ansell.