22nd November 2008

WINGER Sean Forber scored a hat-trick as Pilks made light work of the heavy conditions at Ashton to record a convincing victory.

Coach John Ledger was forced into a reshuffle ahead of this contest, but there was little chance of a slip-up here as skipper Ste Rawsthorne, operating at hooker, and sub Greg Smith - son of former Recs favourite Johnny - caught the eye.

It was Rawsthorne who got the first try of the afternoon, collecting a loose ball before touching down under the posts.

Danny Mason enjoyed an oustanding opening quarter and he was rewarded with the next try after gathering the ball spilled by an Ashton attacker following a crunching tackle from Mark Briody.

Some excellent cover defence by full-back Mark Ashton and winger James Lacey prevented Ashton getting a foothold in this contest.

The drives of packmen Neil Morris, Rick Shaw and Richard Rafferty put the visitors on the front foot.

Shaw, in the unfamiliar position of loose-forward, showed some silky skills for the next try.

He broke clear before feeding Lyons who sent Forber over to complete a 60-metre move.

The next try was also from long range, as Smith made an immediate impact from the bench, with a defence-splitting pass before taking a return ball from Briody and scoring beneath the posts.

Rawsthorne’s three first-half conversions made it 0-22 at the break.

Then, with livewire scrum-half Danny Lynch to the fore in the second half, Pilks registered further tries through Lyons and Forber - switched to centre - who crossed twice to complete his hat-trick.

Rawsthorne added two more goals while Ashton grabbed a late consolation through Matthew Melling.

The Commhoist man of the match for Pilks was Lyons, while the C&S Tyres players’ award went to Mason.