Whitchurch struggle on road again

The Reds went down 20-15 against a Camp Hill side who had lost all of their previous three outings.

That was a blow for the north Shropshire men, who had been hoping to build on their amazing 72-0 win over Solihull a week earlier.

Coach Ginge Wills gave debuts to three new faces, with scrum-half William Paxton joined by winger Jonathan Fletcher and former Colt Steven Bloore.

It all started so well, with Danny Nicholas successfully converting a penalty inside the first two minutes.

But the hosts then accrued two converted tries and a successful penalty to lead 17-3 at the break.

Whitchurch lost Olly Bate-Smith to a knee injury, but replacement Richard Baxter got them back in it with a try early in the second half converted by Nicholas.

Camp Hill added another penalty inside the last 10 minutes, but the Reds then piled on the pressure with a penalty try.

Nicholas' conversion attempt struck the post and that summed up a frustrating second half that also saw him miss a kickable penalty.

"There were quite a few changes to the side, but there can be no blame attached to the new players," said club president John Gregory.

"Camp Hill scored their two tries when we were down to 14 men at the end of the first half after a yellow card."

Oswestry were edged out 8-3 away at Winnington Park in what was a very even South Lancs/Cheshire 1 encounter.

There were no points scored in the first half, the most noteable incident seeing the Eagles lose centre Rich Pierce with an ugly-looking broken nose.

The deadlock was finally broken on 56 minutes when the hosts kicked a penalty after Oswestry were penalised for holding on after a tackle.

Winnington Park then pushed over from a five-yard lineout for the only try of the game, before Andy Howell kicked three points with a penalty for Oswestry in the final minute.