Blackbrook 12 Haydock 30 HAYDOCK produced a courageous and disciplined performance to take the St Helens Hays Chemicals Trophy.

Heavy rain before the start made the Knowsley Road pitch and the ball very greasy and the opening 40-minutes period was littered with errors.

Overall it was a workmanlike rather than a spectacular performance by Haydock that eventually earned them the spoils against a Blackbrook outfit that often lacked penetration, teamwork and discipline.

Blackbrook had the better of the opening exchanges and only a three-man posse of defenders prevented hooker Ian Honey from scoring beneath the posts in the third minute. Brook eventually opened their account five minutes later when second row man Steve Molyneux cleverly lofted a diagonal kick into space behind the defence. Winger Mike Maloney swept in from the right flank to collect and outstrip two defenders to score beneath the posts. Ian Callaghan converted. The next 20-minutes or so produced nothing very imaginative from either side. Short attacks from forwards Ian Buckley, Ian Honey and Colin Smith and their Haydock counterparts Kevin O'Gara, Mark Abbott and Neil Fearnley being frustrated by hard tackling and enforced errors with both sides struggling to put together any moves of note. Paul Ireland landed a simple penalty goal on 30 minutes and quick unconverted tries by half-backs Darren Anders and Mark Boland gave Haydock the initiative.

However, Blackbrook drew level on the stroke of half time when the unmarked Mike Maloney collected a delightful cross kick from Steve Molyneux to score in the corner.

Again the opening exchanges after the break were workmanlike rather than explosive with strong drives of the forwards being countered by equally solid defence. However, the Haydock six, led superbly by Wayne Bloor and Kevin O'Gara gradually gained the ascendancy to be full value for their success.

On 50 minutes Haydock spun the ball across the full width of the pitch and Kevin O'Gara crowned a tremendous individual performance with a well deserved try near the corner.

Five minutes later, loose forward Wayne Bloor burst through on the right to score wide of the posts. O'Gara slotted over the conversion in effortless fashion to give Haydock a 10-point advantage at 20-10.

Ian Callaghan replied with a penalty goal on 51 minutes but that was as good as it got for Blackbrook.

However, Haydock laid siege to the Blackbrook line in the closing stages and Kevin O'Gara regained the 10-point advantage with a simple penalty goal on 65 minutes.

Five minutes later, a speculative high kick from the Haydock right flank caught the Blackbrook defence flat-footed in front of the posts and centre Ian Speed nipped in quickly to grab Haydock's fifth try. Paul Ireland converted and sealed a satisfying second half performance for Haydock with a late penalty goal.

Haydock's Wayne Bloor took the man of the match award, pushed all the way by Kevin O'Gara.

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