Bank Quay Bulls 18 Latchford Albion 26

LATCHFORD Albion consolidated second spot in North West Men's League Division One following a hard-fought victory in a feisty derby at Dallam Playing Fields on Saturday.

Only two interception tries late on from Drew Bradley settled matters.

Bulls produced a performance which belied their current basement position and opened the scoring with a converted try in the opening exchanges.

However, the scores were levelled when Dave Yii dummied his was over from close range, with Sam Dobson converting.

A tight first half ended in Bulls' favour with a second converted try seeing them turn around 12-6 ahead.

Bank Quay increased their lead with a further converted try but Latchford refused to lie down.

The impressive Chris Nicholas barged his way over despite the attentions of three defenders, with Dobson converting.

On 55 minutes the game flared up following a high tackle and after a brawl Albion's Danny Brown and the Bulls' Dane Evans were dismissed for fighting.

This seemed to spark Latchford into life and after a good spell of possession and territory a well-placed kick by Connor Muir was followed up by Rick Metcalfe to score out wide and reduce the deficit to two points.

Bradley intercepted a speculative Bank Quay pass to hare 90 metres for a crucial try again improved by Dobson.

With time running out the hosts tried to force a pass, which Bradley claimed and raced the length of the field to seal the victory for Albion.