Knutsford 36-15 Old Bedians 2nd

KNUTSFORD, boosted by the return of players after they recovered from injury, put behind them successive league defeats last weekend.

They made an encouraging start to a contest played with uncontested scrums from the first whistle because the visitors arrived without an experienced front row.

Flanker Ed Snook broke clear to dot down and Alex Malcolm kicked a conversion.

However Blues quickly conceded an unconverted try at the other end after losing concentration and fell behind at 8-7 when Old Bedians added a penalty.

Despite not being at their best, Knutsford got back on track when they were awarded a penalty-try after half an hour.

And they established an 19-8 interval advantage when Malcolm’s kick forward invited fly-half Sam Cook, making a welcome return to action, to claim another try.

A sluggish start to the second-half, despite words of encouragement from player-coach Chris Edmonds and captain Sam Bensky during the interval, saw their advantage cut to four points.

It acted as a jolt, and Blues ran increased their tally with a series of impressive tries that showed off their trademark style.

The highlight of those was one scored by Jim Southall, another back in the side after an injury lay-off.

Knutsford climb to fourth in the North West Intermediate League’s Division Three South as a reward.

They visit third-placed Manchester seconds on Saturday, kick-off 2.15pm.