Blackburn 52 Furness 5

MATT Hughes and Jordan Pearson both scored a hat-trick of tries as Blackburn kept the pressure on North Lancs and Cumbria leaders Leigh with a one-sided win at The Strawberry Grounds.

Blackburn completely overwhelmed the visitors, and by half time they had scored 32 points without reply.

It was not a surprise, therefore, when Blackburn forged ahead early on, Jordan Pearson going over and Sam Morgan adding the extras.

And they added a second try in the tenth minute.

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From a five metre scrum, Luke Cunningham fed Craig Aikman who provided the ammunition for Pearson to score with a catch and drive.

The bonus point was in the bag nine minutes later, Craig Aikman’s darting run setting up Hughes for his opening try.

Provider Aikman then turned scorer on the half hour, after another sniping run saw him land the ball in the corner.

Aikman scored again just before half time, underlining Blackburn’s complete domination.

This time, from a line out within the Furness 22, the forwards drove on, before Aikman snatched the ball and made a break to score.

There was a brief respite for Furness early in the second half, when they scored their only try of the game to reduce the arreas.

Nut normal service was quickly resumed as Blackburn stepped up another gear as Hughes completed his hat-trick of tries shortly afterwards.

‘Burn extended their lead on the hour, another Pearson run found Anton Garcia on the charge, and Marc Maher twisted and turned to crash over the line.

Garcia was involved in the next score too, offloading to Rick Maudsley who held off one man to register another Blackburn score.

‘Burn were not finished, though, and with the Furness flanker in the bin, they landed their final try of the game, Pearson gathering the ball and crashing over for his hat trick.

Blackburn’s latest win means they are locked together at the summit with Leigh, with both teams having 89 points.

Blackburn will be looking to add to last weekend’s emphatic win when they host another Cumbrian side – Hawcoat Park – on Saturday as they bid to stay on track in the title race.