Tyldesley travelled to the Wirral on Saturday and were narrowly defeated in a closely fought encounter against a spirited New Brighton outfit.

Prior to this match New Brighton found themselves languishing in the bottom four but their performance belied their league position and they were worthy winners on the day.

Tyldesley had been forced into several changes, mainly in the pack which, while possibly strengthening it as a whole, added nothing to the fluency of their play.

This, combined with a below par performance from the back division, led to a second defeat in three weeks since the resumption of games following the enforced mid-winter weather break.

The early exchanges were very physical with no quarter given by either side. There was not much running rugby on display and from the start it became evident that the game would be a very tight one and would probably be won by the side making least mistakes and best able to control their discipline.

Most of Tyldesley’s better moments in the first half involved their best player on the day Darren Edge. He made two or three good breaks but, although well backed on each occasion, none of these amounted to anything of any substance.

The arm wrestle continued for the remainder of a disappointing first half which ended without either side having troubled the scorer.

The first points were only registered around the hour mark when a wayward downfield kick was fielded by the home full-back. He ran the ball back strongly then chipped into space, regathered first bounce and ploughed through an attempted tackle before dotting the ball down between the posts. A lovely try to score but a poor one to concede! The conversion was a formality.

It was hard at this stage to see just how Tyldesley would be able to respond with a score of their own but score they did when Damien Twizzel crossed following good work by forwards Fetherston and Crampton. Aldred failed narrowly with the conversion attempt but, at 7 points to 5, and having been camped in the New Brighton half for a while, it looked like Tyldesley may be able to somehow fashion a win after all.

Alas, several silly penalties saw them give away vital ground and relieve the pressure on the home team. Then, for the second time in the match, they conceded a soft try

A loose ball was fly-hacked down field by one of the New Brighton back row and, despite having ample time to deal with the situation, Tyldesley failed to clear the danger and fell further behind.

As time ticked away and with all seeming lost Tyldesley displayed, albeit a little late, that fighting spirit which has been evident in most of their performances this season.

A grubber kick from Martin was neatly gathered by Zak Sargent and he touched down close enough to the sticks to give Aldred a relatively easy kick at goal. He duly obliged and, incredibly it looked like they might escape with a draw.

It was not to be however as another Tyldesley infringement straight from the restart gave the New Brighton stand-off a chance to win the game with apenalty kick from forty yards. The kick never looked like missing and both the home crowd his team mates cheered heartily upon hearing the final whistle a matter of seconds later.

A disappointing day all round but Tyldesley can have no complaints about the result.

They must now lick their wounds and pick themselves up for next weeks game which will see Widnes visit St.Georges Park for the second time this season in the Raging Bull Trophy.