n Alnwick 52

n Wilmslow Wolves 19

NEW year, same story.

Wilmslow Wolves showed in Northumberland on Saturday how difficult they continue to find rugby union at the higher level.

The 52 points conceded to eighth-placed Alnwick leaves the basement side one point off leaking 600 in 15 North Premier matches so far.

Although they scored first on Saturday, Alnwick had bagged 31 by the break to put the game out of reach.

Rick Jones’ men never let their heads go down but continue to come up against teams with bigger and faster players, who are also more experienced in this division.

Wolves always knew this league was going to be very different to North One West and a steep learning curve.

And had they managed to field their best team each week, things might have been different.

Sadly the home draw with fellow strugglers Vale of Lune on their last outing before Christmas did not promote a change of fortunes against stronger opposition.

Their last win, away to Vale of Lune on September 8, is now only a distant memory.

The slick move in the backs that led to an Ethan Harding break finished off by Sean Street and converted by Bob MacCallum flattered to deceive on Saturday.

Wilmslow started to fail to tackle the first breaks properly and the fast Alnwick backs did the rest to put them in total control.

Two Wolves purple patches in the second half brought a fourth try of the season for Ben Day and one from Will Maslen, sandwiched between three from the hosts.