FOUR of Latchford Albion’s talented youngsters have been called up to represent Lancashire.

Ben Harper, Charlie McCurrie, Matthew Ellis and Matthew Nash have been chosen for the Red Rose’s under 19s squad for fixtures against Yorkshire and Cumbria in November.

They will be joined by their head coach at Latchford Martyn Ellis, who has been named as part of the Lancashire backroom staff.

All four youngsters played key roles as Albion ended their season on a bittersweet note on Saturday.

Their 28-18 victory at Widnes Tigers saw them leapfrog their neighbours, but they missed out on the final North West Men’s League Division One play-off place on points difference.

A win for Hindley over league leaders Wigan St Cuthberts confirmed their play-off spot at Albion's expense, but Ellis' men can take heart from finishing the season in good form.

Having made the worst possible start by going behind within the first minute, Latchford got a foothold when Dylan Kelly fed Harper to race in at the corner.

Rudd’s sixth try in just three games gave Albion the lead as he scored a superb solo try, beating four defenders to cross the line.

As they did in the first half, the visitors made a nightmare start to the second period as they sent the kick off out on the full to allow Widnes to regain the lead from the resultant set.

However, Ellis’ side made full use of playing downhill as their forwards started to make their mark.

McCurrie made what turned out to be a pivotal contribution as he crossed twice – shrugging off two tackles to race over from 20 metres before crashing over from short range – with Rudd converting on both occasions.

Latchford finally had some breathing space and extended the lead further when Morgan Nicholas scored out wide following Sam Dobson’s smart offload.

The hosts did grab a late consolation try, but Albion were good value for their victory as they ended their season on a high.