Wilmslow 24 Blackburn 7: THREE sparkling tries lifted the misty Autumn gloom that shrouded Pownall Park at the weekend.

Injury and unavailability forced Wilmslow to field a young and inexperienced team which shone against tough and straight-running Blackburn.

The Lancashire side may be bottom of the league, but they were a tough nut to crack for the young Wolves, who were only 3-0 ahead at the break.

But cracking tries from winger Luke Bennett, scrum-half Charlie Mulchrone and fly-half Bob MacCallum, whose penalty and three conversions took him past 100 points for Wilmslow this season, lit up the second half.

The midfield pairing of Chris Clarke and Jimmy Byers were among the highlights of a display littered by frustrating errors. There was also a first-team debut for Will Fewkes at prop and former Colt Josh Longmore and Craig Stewart more than held their own when they came on as susbstitutes.

It will be an altogether tougher challenge at third-placed Altrincham-Kersal on Saturday, but coach Darren Lucas was inspired by his young squad, whose performance lifted them to fourth.

He said: "Our first-half performance was a real step up in discipline and communication. Our defence was secure and we did not let them into the game.

"We turned around at 3-0 up, which allowed us to put the phases together in the second half and built the platform for the result and eventually got the tries we needed."

It was far from a drab affair, as the young Wolves ran, ran and ran at a gnarled and frustrated older Blackburn side, but the points just wouldn’t come.

It was frustrating, but the honest endeavour and, at times, sparkling talent of Wilmslow brightened the gloomy, floodlit Pownall Park pitch.

Wayward and dropped passes – some when tries were a nailed-on certainty – were the lowlights for Wilmslow.

Blackburn could and should have been several points to the good, but for missed penalty attempts for Wilmslow indiscipline in the loose in the first half.

MacCallum put the Wolves ahead on 12 minutes before Blackburn piled on the pressure and Wilmslow spent the majority of the first period in their own half.

Bennett scored the first of Wilmslow’s three tries on 55 minutes when stand-in skipper Mike Clifford charged down the Blackburn scrum-half’s box kick from behind a maul in their 22. Rich Williams was on hand to suck in the defence and time his pass perfectly for Bennett to touch down.

It took a further 15 minutes for Wilmslow to strike again, when MacCallum kicked them majestically into the Blackburn 22. Three tight runs saw the ball whipped along to the supporting MacCallum, who touched down five metres from the corner and converted.

Ryan Parkinson and Jonny Lee conspired to set up Wilmslow’s third score on with bullocking runs from midfield. The Wolves’ pick-and-go strategy sucked in the defence and three mauls later Mulchrone feinted a pass and darted through a gap to score under the posts.

Blackburn winger Setareke Kolinsau scored the visitors’ only try at the death.