Thatto Heath A 10 Portico Panthers 36

AFTER another lengthy lay-off a below-strength Portico moved into the Lancashire Cup quarter-final with a comfortable victory over a spirited Thatto Heath second string.

In heavy conditions defences were on top early in the game before Portico finally found their scoring touch when Chris Ashurst crashed in at the corner following Dave Lee's pass.

Portico went on to add two further first-half tries, both scored by Mark Rigby and converted by Mike Hobin.

The second half followed a similar pattern before Neil Kearns collected Chris Ashurst's pass to score and a strong run by Stu Graham set up the position for Dek Sutton to send in Dave Ward by the post.

Thatto briefly fought back with a converted try and an interception either side of Chris Ashurst's second touchdown from a deft Neil Kearns pass.

Mike Hobin then scored a solo effort from half-way and Mark Rigby completed the scoring with his second conversion.

Portico U/9s 36 Wigan St Cuthberts 28

This was an excellent open game of rugby in cold conditions with Portico finally coming out on top.

Man of the match was Alex Mitchell for an outstanding performance, top tackler was Carl Foster, coaches' awards went to Stuart Lloyd and Jack White.

Portico try scorers were A. Mitchell, R. Heyes, J. Arnold, C. Foster (2), D. Croft and D. Peel. Goals came from J. Arnold, R. Heyes and A. Mitchell (2).

Woolston Rovers U/7s 36 Portico 40

Portico struggled on a small pitch but maintained their unbeaten run.

Bradley Ashurst put in a fine display, running in three tries. Top tackler once again was Jack Jones who also added four tries to his season's tally. Other tries for Portico came from Josh Charnock, Adam Pye and Thomas Rigby.

The coach nominated Blake Griffin, James Owen and Jack Burkett for his awards.