Aspull 12, Sandbach 0: SANDBACH paid the price for a slow start on Saturday.
With less than 60 seconds on the clock the Bradwall Road side found themselves 7-0 down, after the home side's number eight broke through two tackles and cantered under the posts for a converted try.
Stunned, Sandbach then conceded two penalties and were relieved to see both sail wide. But they still failed to regain their composure and on 20 minutes another try made it 12-0 to Aspull.
The hosts missed another two penalties to go out of sight before the break, as out-of-sorts Sandbach were dominated.
The second half yielded little improvement. Dan Massey crashed over from 20 yards out but he was held up, and there was no further score.
A team spokesman said; 'It was a disappointing loss in what is becoming a tight league. We must now ensure we win two more matches to retain our place in this division and maintain our aspirations.'
Sandbach 2nds showed a marked improvement to edge Widnes 21-19 in a tense encounter.
Having been crushed 48-0 and 58-10 by Widnes previously this season, things looked bleak when they went 14-0 down within 10 minutes.
But when fly-half Richard Thomas found Dan Adams who scored from the wing, before Thomas converted, it sparked a remarkable revival.
A long-spell of domination ended when John Pemberton scored under the posts and a Thomas conversion evened up the score.
Adams got another try, converted by Thomas, before the break to make it 21-14. Widnes got the only try of the second half and later rued the missed conversion.
Sandbach 4ths lost 39-7 to Didsbury Toc H, with Phil Clifton converting his own try.
