Rangers pay for mistakes

SADDLEWORTH Rangers failed to recover from a nightmare start and fell to a 22-4 home defeat to Wath Brow Hornets in National Conference League division one.

The Cumbrians, who have now gone top of the division, opened the scoring after only five seconds. Rangers failed to control the ball from the kick off and it rebounded kindly for the visitors to run in their first try.

Keith Brennan’s men got back into the game and reduced the arrears to 6-4 thanks to a try from winger Fraser Coley.

But despite pushing the visitors back, bad habits crept in for Saddleworth and a pair of Wath Brow penalties before half-time left the home team with a mountain to climb at 10-4 down.

Once more, Rangers applied the pressure and looked certain to increase their tally following a period of intense pressure on the opposition line in which numerous repeat sets were forced.

Instead, though, a pair of piggy-back penalties were conceded and the visitors took advantage to score once again, effectively taking the game out of reach.

“We didn’t compete with them for long enough,” said a disappointed Brennan, who has now seen his team lose three of their last four fixtures. “We have got Millom away next week and we need to work out the improvements that need to be made and put it right.”