IT was certainly a mixed bag of results for Warrington sides as the amateur rugby league season got underway on Saturday.

Both Crosfields and Woolston Rovers started off on the wrong foot, being beaten at Bradford Dudley Hill and Beverley respectively to start the National Conference League Division Two campaign.

In the North West Men’s League, however, there was much better news as Latchford Albion in Division One while in Division Three, Woolston Rovers A were emphatic victors.

In the same division, Culcheth Eagles and Crosfields A both lost on the road.

Ian Boden’s Crosfields’ side were without several key players for their trip to Bradford Dudley Hill, and it showed with the hosts cantering to a 40-10 victory.

Alex Clutterbuck scored both of Soap’s tries and despite the result, Boden remained positive.

“I’m very proud of these guys,” he said.

“They dug deep and played for the badge, which is great to see at this club.

“It was just a bad day to play your opener of the season, but I’ve hopefully got a lot of lads returning for next week’s trip to Clock Face.

“Jack Reid was immense again and our forwards didn’t give up for 80 minutes, with Alex Clutterbuck deserving his brace.”

Rovers came a bit closer to marking their first game following last year’s promotion with victory but were beaten 22-12 in East Yorkshire.

Harry Files crossed for a try but was also sin-binned for Mal Holt’s side, whose other score came from Dan Griffiths while Theo Holt kicked two conversions.

Like Boden, Holt was upbeat about his side’s prospects despite getting off to a losing start.

“It was disappointing to come away with nothing from the game as I felt we created enough chances to get something out of it,” he said.

“But I am certainly not downhearted as the effort the lads put in on a difficult pitch was really good.

“We just lacked that little bit of composure at crucial times and Beverley made us pay."

“They are a big, physical side but I thought we stood up to the test well and we will gain a lot that will aid us in the coming weeks.”

Things were much different for Latchford, who saw full-back Ben Harper scored twice in their 20-10 win at Chorley Panthers.

Warrington Guardian:

Ben Harper scored twice for Latchford at Chorley Panthers

Harper crossed for two carbon-copy tries after half time to put Martyn Ellis’ side in full control and although Chorley pulled a try back, Charlie McCurrie barged through three would-be tacklers to seal victory.

The only score of the first half had arrived when Dylan Kelly finished off a break from Adam Wood.

Considering Woolston A came into the campaign without having had a pre-season fixture, their cohesion was impressive from the off.

Preston and South Ribble Rabbitohs were no match for them as the hosts racked up a 52-14 win, with Sam Wood scoring a first-half hat-trick.

Craig Lawton scored a try and kicked five goals while he was joined on the scoresheet by Simon Bishop, Jimmy Evans, Aaron Barber and Scott Whiteley.

“Considering we had not had any game time together due to the weather, I thought we gelled really well and played some excellent rugby,” Rovers A coach Matt Lowe said.

“We got off to a great start and never really let Preston get a foothold into the game which was very pleasing.

“We are confident that we will get even better over the next few weeks once we have got used to being out on the field together in a game environment.”

Paul Martin scored Culcheth’s only try in their 20-4 loss at Blackpool Scorpions while Crosfields A were narrowly beaten 28-20 at Wigan Bulldogs.