Burnley 13 Ashton Under Lyne 12

MATT Crowley’s late penalty kick gave Burnley a hard fought ‘ugly’ victory in shocking playing conditions at Holden Road.

Ashton were clinging on to a slender 12-10 lead with just five minutes to go but Burnley’s pressure finally paid off as the visitors conceded a penalty on their own line.

Richard Murray thought he had crossed for a match winning try after powering over while the referee played advantage but the match official was unsighted so called the action back.

However, Crowley kept his cool to slot over the penalty to give Burnley the lead.

But even then, Ashton had a late chance to snatch it when Burnley conceded a penalty of their own which was missed by the visitors much to the relieve of the home team.

In-form Burnley have now won four of the last five North Lancs One matches having lost their opening five games of the campaign.

But it did appear they were slipping to a fourth home defeat of the season despite a try from Christian Allanson and a penalty and conversion from Sam Mounsey.

However, after the final whistle, player/coach Simon Finnan and captain Luca Angelone were delighted to win ugly.

“Winning ugly is vital which earlier in the season we weren’t doing,” said Finnan. “This is a young team and we are still growing but they have picked up the ability to win these sort of matches.”

Burnley travel to Trafford Metrovik for their final game of 2013 and they will be looking to cut down on the penalty count that could have proved costly against Ashton. The club also bid farewell to Sam Mounsey for the rest of the season as he takes up a job in France at a ski resort.

n Burnley U11s took part in a triangular tournament in Yorkshire where they took on North Ribblesdale and Skipton.

Against North Yorkshire, Burnley won 12-10 thanks to tries from Morgan Williams and Bram Richmond with Williams added the conversion.

Burnley then enjoyed a hard fought 18-5 win against Skipton 18-5 thanks to tries from winger Callum Kirkby and a second for Richmond but only after some fantastic Burnley defence.