Knutsford 3 Ellesmere Port 40

KNUTSFORD were well beaten at the hands of second-placed Ellesmere Port in South Lancs/Cheshire Division Three on Saturday.

The hosts’ hopes of causing an upset were quickly extinguished when they found themselves two tries down after an even opening exchange.

Knutsford were able to fight back and establish a foothold when Alex Malcolm converted a penalty after a sustained period of pressure.

This spurred the home side on but they were unable to convert the pressure into points and their discipline let them down at the vital moment.

After a succession of penalties Knutsford found themselves defending in their own 22, the visitors added a third try to lead 19-3 at half time.

Knutsford were unable to find any momentum after the interval and the visitors ran in three further tries to lead by 37 points.

The final quarter of the game saw the home side reduced to 13 men when Tom Selby and Frazer Crawford were sin binned in separate incidents, but the home side’s resilience meant there would be no further scores.

After the defeat both captain Sam Bensky and coach Geoff Crawford were disappointed that the team was unable to take advantage of the possession they enjoyed and at the high penalty count.

However, they continued, the effort the side put in particularly when they were down to 13 could not be faulted.

Knutsford are at home to the league leaders Ramsey on Saturday, 3pm kick off.