CREWE and Nantwich recorded their eighth victory in succession when they defeated Dukinfield 19-5 on Saturday.

They showed good handling and running at times but were limited by a heavyweight Duk-infield pack and heavy conditions underfoot.

A game of tight scrums and rucks made for a scrappy spectacle. But Phil Alcock was alert to capitalise from a quickly taken free-kick. He grabbed the ball and stormed over for the opening try.

This was soon followed by another try from the big lock forward. Following a lineout he kicked through and followed up to ground the ball over the visitor's try line. The sub-sequent Danny Lynch conversion saw Crewe turn round with a 12 points lead.

Crewe were soon alerted against any complacency when Dukinfield scored with a through kick, bringing them just a single score behind.

But a Matt Farr try from a winning five-metre scrum settled the game for Crewe with Lynch adding the goal points.

A Crewe spokesman said: 'It was a somewhat dour encounter but the chiselling out of results during the winter period, enabling the side to hold on to second place in the league, must be the main objective.

Crewe fortunately are armed with a pack of forwards to achieve this.

'With three or four players still sidelined with injuries, but due to return next week, it is a matter of congratulations to them for getting through this month without defeat.'

He added: 'It is worth noting that the referee on Saturday was David Leslie, who not so long ago was on the International Referees Panel. His experience showed in his handling of the game.'

Crewe's other three teams completed an encouraging day for the club when they returned all from away matches, with three wins.

The seconds at Bowdon were victors by 20-17, while the thirds at Sandbach had an even closer result, winning by 20-19 with tries from Paul McGarrigle, Matt King and Colin Smith, who also landed a penalty and conversion kick.

The fourths at Birchfield completed the whitewash with a 29-14 victory, with tries by Stuart Simmons (2), Harvey Nurse, Rory Bradley and Nick Smith. Dale Beck landed two conversions.

Next week sees Crewe and Nantwich engaged in cup duty at home to Yorkshire side, Hessle, in the fourth round of the Powergen Junior Vase competition. Kick-off is at 2pm.