West Bowling 40, Queensbury 12

WEST Bowling made a whirlwind start to put this Pennine League Premier Division derby clash beyond Queensbury's reach at Emsley's Rec.

The opening exchanges were even as both sides settled into their stride – before Bowling struck the first blow when loose forward Dan Gregory sold a slow dummy to cross with ease, leaving scum half Ben Heald to add the extras.

The try of the game swiftly followed when West's prop forward Chris Anderson skittled three defenders aside to break clear down the middle.

Anderson smartly offloaded to unmarked centre Adam Reardon, who was left with the formality of planting the ball under the uprights and allowing Heald to slot over an easy conversion for a 12-0 lead.

Second-row forward Jack Milburn then stepped inside to fool the scrambling defence and reach the whitewash.

And the early carnage was completed on the 20-minute mark when Reardon broke the line on a one-to-one to hand on to Heald, who sprinted to the chalk and then landed his fourth kick to give the hosts an impregnable 24-0 total.

Queensbury, who are noted for their dogged belligerence, stemmed the tide thanks to the efforts of their pack.

Second-row pair Sam Cheney and Joe Walker put in the hard yards and all their efforts nearly gained reward when substitute forward Tom Hainsworth was within a whisker of touching down under the uprights following a skilful attack shortly before the interval.

The visitors' old habits resurfaced on the restart when Reardon completed his brace – but their character come to the fore once again when wingman Scott Swann collected a high kick to send centre Matt Kiernan in at the corner.

This was quickly followed up with a crisp passing move that put wingman Robert Nagy in at the opposite flag and Swann added both conversions to give some measure of respectability to the scoreline.

But Bowling gained their second wind when winger Karl Spring collected a kick through to race 60 metres to the chalk and then claimed his second touchdown by pouncing on a kick-and-chase with the visitors dead on their feet.

Heald added both conversions to close the game with a lopsided tally that, on first inspection, did not fully reflect Queensbury's labours on the day.