North Manchester 7 - 78 Littleborough RUFC

Matt Goldthorpe, Littleborough Rugby Union Club

Littleborough Rugby Union Club, knowing that they would have to win the final game of the season away at North Manchester with a bonus point win and hope that Trafford MV lost at home against Burnley to take the title, triumphed with a crushing 78-7 victory, however it was not enough as Trafford took the title with a 55-22 hammering of Burnley.

Littleborough now face the prospect of a play-off against an unknown Cumbrian side in the next couple of weeks to gain a promotion into the next league. Details of that match will be finalised by Friday.

The first of the Boro's 14 tries saw winger Andy Roberts go in under the posts, beating a couple of defenders in the process.

Not long after, Boro had their second and third scores of the afternoon, which were all about individual brilliance from Jack Whittles. First the outside centre carved through a disorganised defence at pace in open play before he played a big part in a try for Goldthorpe, supplying him with the final pass out wide to dive in the corner.

Goldthorpe would continue to flourish in the Manchester sunshine, scoring his second in a similar position after the scissors move off Kershaw had worked a treat to create an open channel to cut through. Full back Kershaw then became a happy beneficiary of another well worked move down the left to add his name to score sheet.

There was even still time for another Littleborough back to get over the white wash as Wayne straightened his running line to crash through a now demoralised defensive line. Kershaw had the easy opportunity to add to his personal points tally with a conversion right in front of the posts to respond to the try North Manchester managed to get for all their hard work.

With the score standing at 7-34 and the game effectively over by half time, Littleborough could continue to let loose and experiment with set plays while marking the last game of the league campaign in style.

They did just that with eight more tries in a frenetic 40 minutes. Park starting the second half rout by scoring one of the tries of the game and season. Scrum half Kolbuck caught their clearance kick and gave the ball to Park, who scooted past a couple of defenders to score from around half way.

Kolbuck would also play a pivotal role in the hat trick try for Goldthorpe, supplying a box kick into the heart of the North Manchester half. The bounce was even favouring Boro as it sat nicely for the winger to pluck it out of the air before their fullback. This was then almost immediately followed up by a second try for Whittles out wide right.

Try four of a memorable day for Goldthorpe owed much to the understated forward pack who all afternoon created a fantastic platform for the backs to work with. Number 8 Ben Irving carried down the blind side off the back of a scrum before sending Matthew clear with a quick pop pass.

Wayne and Park then joined the likes of Whittles and Goldthorpe in a now rather less exclusive club of players to score a brace in the match as Boro took the tally past 50. Wayne scored another of his trademark tries, cutting an intuitive running line and leaving defenders scattered on the floor wishing they had not left the bed in the morning. Park on the other hand decided that finesse was more his style, dummying his way under the posts for another eye catching score.

With 10 minutes left, the forwards were feeling left out and were desperate to at least have one name on the score sheet. They did just that as Irving stole an overthrown line-out on half way before beating a couple of defenders on his way to score under the posts. Kershaw again added the now redundant two points to take his personal points tally for the match to 14, only bettered by a Goldthorpe determined to break a club record.

With just a few minutes left Goldthorpe capped off a tremendous performance for both him and the team by adding the finishing touches to another well worked set play off the training pitch. That try was his 30th of the season and beats the previous record of 29 held for several years by David Kearns, and with one game to go, there is a chance that he could break the record by some distance.