South Lancs and Cheshire League Division Two North
Oswestry Eagles 15, Ruskin Park 8
OSWESTRY moved to within four points of the top with a win over fellow promotion chasers Ruskin Park despite Andy Howell’s off-day with the boot.
Ollie Willford, Thomas Thorpe and Sam Wright, were the try scorers as Oswestry closed the gap on league leaders, Douglas.
And with a game in hand over the two sides above them, they are well placed to put themselves on top of the pile come Christmas, having won their last six games in a row.
Both sides refused to give much away in the early exchanges although the Eagles did spurn an 18th minute chance to take the lead when a Tyler Morris pass failed to reach Wright who was in full flow on the wing with the try line begging.
The Eagles then turned the screw in the scrum in what has become a well-oiled machine this season, with Andrew Smith, Guy Howell and Mike Keaveney forcing the visitors back towards their own line.
Forcing the scrum to go against the head, Oswestry were awarded the penalty when the Ruskin prop popped his head out of the drive, but instead of the three points they opted for the ball to be put in again and were rewarded when Oswestry scored a pushover try through Willford.
Ruskin hit back with a penalty on the half-hour, and they moved into a half-time lead when the ball was fed to the right winger to touch down despite Rob Massam’s try-saving tackle a minute earlier.
Oswestry resumed their dominance in the scrum early in the second period but were initially held just short of the try line before Thorpe ran in the Eagles’ second of the day as the pressure told, to put them two points ahead.
Howell and the Ruskin fly-half both missed penalties in a nervy finish but Howell regained his composure to kick deep into the opposition 22 with Sam Martin ripping the ball from the Ruskin forwards delivering it to Wright who went in at the corner.
Tempers flared in the latter stages with both sides seeing two men go in the sin-bin, but Oswestry ran the clock down to end a fascinating clash.