BURTONWOOD Bridge did not win a game between July and September to end what looked like a promising 2017.

However, head coach Lee Cunningham believes his side can use that dire run of form as a lesson as they prepare for the new season.

After going undefeated in their first 11 games, Bridge blazed a trail at the top of North West Men’s League Division Three until their dramatic collapse.

They also led Woolston Rovers A 22-0 in the semi final of the Warrington Alliance Cup but went on to lose.

In response to that, Cunningham says Bridge have been working on simplifying their game ahead of the new campaign.

“We learned more at the back end of the year than the first four months, when we went undefeated in our first 11 games,” he said.

“After July, we didn’t win again, but we’ve learned so much as a squad from that.

“Defensively, we were showing cracks. We were leading Woolston’s seconds 22-0 after 20 minutes in the Warrington Cup semi-final and ended up losing.

“We should never have been in a position to lose that game.

“The lads have come back from that and a lot of what we have been focusing on in pre-season has been simplicity.

“For me, that’s really pleasing. It’s not about putting on a nice move that’s got so many angles to it, it’s about playing to a certain part of the field.

“Each person needs to get their role right, getting their running line right and things like that.

“Being accountable for what you do is a massive part of it.”

Bridge ended up finishing fourth last season, one place and three points behind neighbours Crosfields A.

They will be joined in Division Three next year by Woolston Rovers A, who won all four trophies available to them in 2017.

Cunningham says the Fir Tree Lane side are looking forward to a “closer and more competitive” league this year.

“Because we’re on the outskirts of Warrington, we’ve got derbies with teams from St Helens as well as the Warrington teams,” he said.

“Not only are they going to be tasty games from a local point of view, but those Crosfields A and Woolston A are excellent teams.

“The Woolston second team won everything last year and that’s nothing short of phenomenal.

“The standard of the division will improve this year and it will be a lot closer and more competitive.”

Cunningham says the core of his Bridge squad remains largely the same, but says some new additions can take his side “to the next level.”

He says Bridge are looking to “finish the job” and gain promotion to Division Two.

“We’ve brought Craig Harris in from Rylands, who will do a great job for us in the halves,” he said.

“We were happy with our backs last year, but we’ve brought in some new forwards who will help to push us to the next level.

“We needed a little bit more help up front and that’s what we think we’ve been able to achieve.

“We want to finish the job this year. That’s what we all hope for.

“With the attitude the players are showing, they look keen on it.

“The old adage is that we have to take it one game at a time, but what we’ve learned from last year is that just because we’re winning, it doesn’t necessarily mean we’re doing things right.

“We just have to go through our processes and work hard for each other. If that leads us to success, brilliant.

“If it doesn’t, we have to maintain our composure, lick our wounds and get ourselves right for the next week.

“We do aspire to do as well as we can, but we can only look after ourselves each week.”