Haydock 32 Rylands 14

RYLANDS were left to rue missed opportunities as they slipped to a defeat against an experienced Haydock side on Saturday.

Rylands started the game strongly with youngster Chris Morley and Lewis Litherland marching the Sharks up the field only for hooker Louis Walsh’s last tackle option to be charged down, Sharks' covering defenders were left bamboozled by the bounce of the ball which fell straight into a Haydock hands for the try which was converted.

Rylands were not downbeat and went straight back up the field to score a try of their own when prop forward Lewis Litherland found the ball in his hands on tackle five and chipped over the top finding the pace to beat the scrambling defenders and score in the corner.

The game then ebbed and flowed for 20 minutes , Haydock using a strong wind to kick themselves out of danger and cause Rylands problems, the Sharks were architects of the own downfall as they surrendered possession and field position through poor discipline.

Eventually a penalty count of 12-2 in the first half meant the Gorsey Lane outfit cracked with Haydock running the ball on the last tackle twice for score two quick-fire tries in the corner to make the score 14-4 on 35 minutes.

But on 38 minutes Rylands scored what was the try of the game to get themselves back in the contest . Pinned on their own in goal the Sharks shifted the ball from right to left through Craig Harris and debutant Jamie Howard to make a 50 metre break.

On the next tackle they shifted the ball back across the field for Sean Boyle to find Matthew Burn screaming through a gaping hole in the Haydock defence to make it 14-8 at the interval.

The second half started in the worse possible way a mistake from the kick off gifted Haydock possession and as they had done all day they made Rylands pay.

The Sharks trailing on the score board were not downbeat and the next 20 minutes of the game were probably there best of season they hit back with a try straight away with Sean Boyle darting his way through three defenders to score.

Rylands then continued to press Haydock creating chance after chance and break after break but a combination of poor execution and handling errors meant the Sharks we unable to get over the try line again.

The chances wasted seemed to deflate the Sharks and Haydock went on to score another two tries to win the game 32-14 and leave Rylands wondering what could have been.

Best for Rylands on Saturday was debutant Jamie Howard , we was closely followed by props Lewis Litherland and Chris Morley.

Rylands 1.Carl Lloyd 2 Pete Price 3 Adam Thompson 4 Jamie Howard 5 Mike Saunders 6 Craig Harris 7 Sean Boyle 8 Chris Morley 9 Louis Walsh 10 Lewis Litherland 11 Paul Reynolds 12 Chris Dean 13 Jack Lewis 14 Dave Walker 15 Matthew Burn 16 Rob Campbell 17 Ryan Butler

Rylands Sharks A 18 Manchester Rangers 28

RYLANDS' poor first half performance cost them dearly against Division Four rivals Manchester Rangers at Shark Park. 

Rangers scored three unanswered first-half tries for a 16-point advantage at the turnaround.

The second period saw a much improved Sharks performance and tries for Sam Brinksman, Mark McArdle and Danny Hoyland brought the hosts to within four points.

But a final Rylands score from Ben McNicholas, converted by Alex Hodgson, came after Rangers had furthered their lead.