St Edwards OB 52 Ruskin Park 5 GALLANT Ruskin were once again no match for their opponents, and went down to a heavy defeat to a side which, with this victory, clinched the First Division title.

Faster to the breakdown, and skilful in their handling when in possession, the home side scored tries at regular intervals throughout the match.

Coupled with some fine goal kicking from stand-off McCann, the 'Eddies' passed the half-century mark just before the final whistle.

To their credit, Ruskin competed throughout, despite the early loss of Paul Fenney and were rewarded just before half time, when Paul Unsworth scored a fine try, following a strong burst by Gordon Roberts.

Meanwhile, at Ruskin Drive, the second XV gained a 37-20 victory over the St Edwards second string, despite being 20 points to five down midway through the first half. Gareth Burns was the hero with his first hat-trick of tries, while Ian Christian, and the father and son duo, Dave Birch senior and junior added others. Peter Harden completed the total with a couple of conversions and a penalty.

Converted for the new archive on 14 July 2000. Some images and formatting may have been lost in the conversion.