Finnforest Cup Competition

St Maries, Halton Farnworth Hornets and Widnes Ball Bulldogs are through to the semi finals. In the battle for a Finnforest cup final place, North West Counties division four side Widnes Ball met the premier division champions and Lancashire cup holders Simms Cross in the first semi final at St Maries on April 20.

In the second semi final National Conference League side St Maries meet Halton Farnworth Hornets from the North West Counties premier division at Simms Cross on Tuesday, April 27, kick-off 6.45pm.

Widnes Albion 10 Widnes St Maries 19

CURRENT Rochdale coach and former St Maries coach Bobby Goulding made a surprise return to the Maries side at stand off.

His skills and professional experience were key to the Maries success in a superb game.

The tackling was ferocious early on with both defences to the fore and it was 35 minutes before the first score.

A good run from Albion prop Paul Davies set up Glyn Holland for a well-taken try that Gary Richardson converted.

The Maries responded immediately when Tony Hollins made a break in his own half.

Will Tilleke was on hand to send giant Tongan partner Yew Tangi in for a try.

Goulding converted this and his own try after he had raced over direct from a scrum near the Albion line giving the Maries a 12-6 half time lead.

Both defences continued to excel in the second half until good handling saw Maries centre Karl O'Doherty cross wide out.

The conversion from Goulding and a drop goal from Mark Keenan seemed to have made the game safe but the Albion kept pressing and were rewarded with a try from Ian Littler.

St Marie's man of the match was Hollins with O'Doherty, Goulding and veteran Tony Hannon also on top form.

For the Albion Paul Davies, Richardson and Kevin Blythin were outstanding.

Widnes Tigers 10 Halton Hornets 52

FARNWORTH took control right from the start as the Tigers struggled with the pace of the game.

At half time Farnworth, with Paul George, Mike Riley and Mark Bazley in top form, had raced into a 42-0 lead.

Andy Saywell sped over for a first half hat-trick including a brilliant length of the field effort when he snapped up a dropped Tigers' pass.

Mike Riley got Farnworth's first try in the seventh minute after a long pass from Peter Forest.

The Tigers' defence then held firm for 15 minutes until Tim Leech sent Billy Forest in and Barry Charlesworth put Bazley in.

Paul George then beat several defenders in a weaving run to the line after another Tigers' dropped pass. Five Bazley goals completed the first half scoring.

The Tigers made some key substitutions and their game improved in the second half.

Danny Bellfield, David Brady and Mark Holland were very impressive with Andy Abbot, Mike Barr and John Connor all trying hard.

Farnworth added tries from Riley and Forest with one Bazley conversion.

The Tigers scored two superb tries in reply.

First, Bellfield showed his strength to get over and then Brady showed great speed to race over from 40 yards out. Connor's conversion completed the scoring.

Albert Park 10 Widnes Ball 12

WIDNES Ball won the battle of the two division four sides in the final Finnforest Cup first round game.

Ball got the perfect start when swift passing along the line saw Jamie Noone put Stuart O'Callaghan in for a try. Irish international Neil Bourke converted.

Ten minutes later Mark Flanagan increased the lead with a superb solo try after he beat several defenders after he had collected an Albert sticks drop out. Again Bourke converted.

The Albert came back with prop Graham Snowling, hooker Robbie Haining, second row David Murphy and loose forward Alan Ditchfield working hard.

They reduced the gap with a try from centre Cliff Dicks who was first to a Michael Scott kick.

Stand off Chris Walton added an excellent conversion from wide out.

The Albert kept up the pressure but a forced pass gave the Ball possession.

Noone made good ground to send Kieron McKeown in for a well worked try that gave the Ball a 16-10 half time lead.

The second half saw both defences on top with few real scoring chances.

Ball stand-off Paul Tobin added to their lead when he crossed by the posts for a fine try from a Mark Flanagan pass. Bourke added his third conversion. Albert substitute Dave Jackson completed the scoring with a try.

The Albert's top performers were Jimmy Mellor, Chris Walton and Richie Miller.

For Ball, Bourke was man of the match with Tobin and Alan Sergeant close challengers.