Dukinfield 30 Ellesmere Port 17
ELLESMERE Port were unable to turn sustained periods of pressure into points as they suffered their third straight away defeat of the South Lancs/Cheshire Division Two season.
Although the Oilers made the trip to Greater Manchester on Saturday shorn of several key players, they still fielded a strong squad and with better finishing could have made it back-to-back wins for the first time since winning promotion.
Dukinfield were impressive on the break and, aided by Port’s poor first-up tackling, they took a 15-point lead into the half-time break.
The second half followed a similar pattern with the visitors dominating possession only to be caught on the counter by their pacy hosts.
The highlight for the Oilers was an excellently-worked try from centre Pete Doyle, who took a great flat pass from fly-half Chris Carbutt that sliced open the home defence before outpacing the fullback and scoring under the posts.
Carbutt kicked the rest of the points for the Port, who need to start producing the form they show at home on the road if they are to realise their full potential.
The 11th-placed Oilers welcome high-flying Ruskin Park to the Whitby Sports & Social Club on Saturday (3pm).
Ellesmere Port 2nds bagged the bragging rights on Saturday as they cruised to a comfortable 42-7 derby success at home to Port Sunlight 2nds.
Centre pairing Lee Craddock and Tom Wynne ran riot through the Sunlight defence to set up a number of tries for the hosts, whose line-up featured a number of third-team players.
