Crosfields 6 Oulton Raiders 24

CROSFIELDS had two sent off and ended with 10 men on Saturday, with head coach Mark Brennan heavily criticising the performance of the referee.

Chris Hull and skipper Jack Reid were both sent off in the first half, while Matty Barber was sin-binned late in the second period.

"The effort our players showed could not be faulted, they all give 100 per cent," Brennan said.

"For sure the ref spoiled the game by sending two players off in the first half, both questionble, and for the second one he sent of the wrong person!

"The referee ruined the top of the table clash, but the effort our lads showed was something we have been lacking for a few weeks so that was good to see!"

Soap had taken the lead early on after repelling intense Oulton pressure when Nathan Taylor used good footwork to raced home from half way.

However, Hull was deemed to have headbutted his opponent in trying to break free of a tackle and the referee produced a straight red card.

It was to get worse just before the break when the touch judge ran on judging Jordan Chilton’s attempt to get to his feet as dangerous play.

However, Reid was named as the culprit and he too was sent off, but Soap still held a 6-0 lead at the break.

Sadly, tries from Harry Grayson and Andy Williamson edged the visitors ahead shortly after the restart before adding two penalties to solidify their advantage.

The second of those penalties came after Matty Barber was yellow-carded for a high tackle and Oulton took full advantage to add two further tries before full time.

As a result, Soap drop to fourth in National Conference League Division Two ahead of Saturday’s trip to Thornhill Trojans, kick off 2.30pm.

Crosfields: Ash Cornelia; Keiron Thomas, Josh Whitham, Chris Hull, Nathan Taylor; Jack Reid, John Whittaker; Phil Brazendale, Hayden James, John Pickersgill, Lewis Bani, Joe Moore, Joe Clarke. Subs: Jordan Chilton, Tom Millington, Tom Brown, Matty Barber.