Colne and Nelson Juniors 5, Old Rishworthians Juniors 24

From the kick-off, Colne controlled the play well and gained momentum by using the power of Alfie Forest and Jake Butterworth to carry the ball the hard distance.

A great link-up between Kyle Hargreaves and Matt Smedley created a bit of a gap in the Rishworthians defence which let Kallan Turner speed up field, only to be stopped by the well-positioned full back.

With both sides having equal possession it was hard to pick a better team, but a mistake by Colne let the visitors open the scoring with a try in the corner which went unconverted.

Colne continued to push hard in the forward play and gain ground at every opportunity, but never seemed to capitalise on the overlap which was created, and it was only mistakes which allowed the opposition to score and convert under the posts just before half-time.

The second half kick-off went Colnes way as Tom Duerden caught a well-placed kick from Matt Smedley and ran in Colne’s try practically unopposed, which was unconverted.

The Rishworthian team hit back hard at Colne, but good control from Lewis Bannister at full back kept the Colne defensive line in position and hard to break but as tensions ran high Colne lost a man to the sin bin for standing on another player’s foot.

The visitors used the extra man to their full advantage and gain a bit more of a foot hold in the game.

This caused problems for the Colne defence and missed tackles saw the visitors score twice in quick succession, with only one converted.

Colne continued to push hard and play some good rugby with some excellent link ups along the backline which pressurised the visitors’ defence, which found itself camped inside their own 22-yard line.

And with Colne desperate to score again, the final whistle blew leaving the score at 24-5 in favour of the visitors.