After suffering their ninth defeat from nine games, Oswestry remain bottom of the Lancashire/Cheshire second division after they were beaten by fourth-placed Eccles.

The visitors came into the game in good form, but Oswestry were determined to make it a difficult afternoon for their opponents.

The match coincided with the vice-president’s lunch and on a grey miserable day the fixture was played out in front of a large crowd.

Oswestry found themselves pinned back inside their own 22 early in the game.

Some good tackling kept the visitors at bay, and shortly after, Oswestry devised an attack of their own, winning a penalty close to the posts.

Noah Chunsi put the hosts ahead as he kicked between the posts to make it 3-0.

From the restart Eccles came back at Oswestry but could not break the wall of red and black. Great defending by Rosco Jacobs, Nikola Nikolov and James Roberts prevented the Eccles team breaking through

However, Eccles’ persistence finally paid off after 25 minutes of play when they were able to break through the line of defence to score their first try of the afternoon. This was converted and Eccles went 7-3 up.

After half-time, Oswestry continued to defend well and produced some good play of their own going forward.

Chunsi had the chance to reduce the deficit to just one point when he stepped up to take another penalty.

He kicked well again and put his side within touching distance of their opposition.

It wasn’t long before Eccles regained the lead after a mistake at the back created a gap for the visitors to run into and score their second try, making the score 12-6.

The resulting kick was missed.

Five minutes after the restart Eccles dealt Oswestry another blow by finding a gap in the line again and scoring their third try of the afternoon. This was converted, making the score 19-6.

Oswestry continued to fight for a result with all the players putting their bodies on the line for their team.

Oswestry piled on the pressure but could not break through their line and the game finished 19-6 to Eccles.

Coach Kevin Whitehead awarded Chris Hesketh with man of the match.

Oswestry next play on Saturday when they travel to the Wirral to face New Brighton.