Pendle Phoenix 24, Carnforth 10

Carnforth opened the scoring when Pendle were penalised for collapsing a maul, and the fly half slotted the long range kick to give them a three-point lead.

Pendle’s new look front row of Martin, Owen and Ferdenzi provided the stable platform at the scrum which enabled the pack to drive Carnforth back over their own line, and quick reactions by scrum half Danny Rowland saw him pounce on the ball to score. Rob Lawless converted to give Phoenix a four-point advantage.

Carnforth continued to kick deep into the Pendle 22 to try and apply pressure, and eventually they found space in the corner for their winger to touch down. The conversion from the touchline was good and this swung the score to 10-7 to Carnforth.

Phoenix continued to dominate the contact area and turned over the opposition ball through McNamee, Peverley and Moss.

This allowed a clever chip through the Carnforth defence, and the pace of Aldo Trapanese was too much as he dived on the ball to score a well-deserved try, swinging the score back in Pendle’s favour at 12-10.

Half-time changes allowed Askew, King and Asgar to inject more direct running and set up field position for the backs.

When the ball was moved along the backline through Hempstead, Harper and Lawless, they looked threatening, but a strong Carnforth defence kept them from scoring.

It came down to the power of the Phoenix pack to get the next score after they drove the Carnforth back from a 10 metre scrum and the referee awarded a penalty try for collapsing the scrum. Lawless added the conversion to stretch the lead to 19-10.

The Phoenix were then on the hunt for their fourth try, hoping to collect the four-point bonus win. Once again Liam Canning stole a line out ball from Carnforth and the forwards drove the ball deep into the heart of the defence, allowing scrum half Rowland to dart down the blind side to score and send Pendle in with a well-deserved victrory.

Pendle are now in fourth place with a game in hand.

The R.E.M. man of the match was Luke McNamee.