Rugby League: Aspull New Springs 26 -20 Littleborough

Dom Kershaw, Littleborough Rugby League, looking to exploit the opposition defence

Littleborough Rugby League's hopes of a league title suffered a dent as they lost in a heated contest against Aspull New Springs.

In the hot Lancashire sunshine, Aspull ripped Littleborough apart in an opening 30 minutes with two tries, the best of which was saw a high calibre miss pass that evaded three defenders and gave the full back the space to run in for a try.

Littleborough registered their first points of the game with 10 minutes left of the first half as Barry Rouse on his first game back from a lengthy injury lay off crashing over from close range.

This was just rewards for the effort and heart they showed in the first half, but they couldn't keep Aspull at bay with a try from the number 13.

Nathan Coop drew Aspull closer and gave Littleborough a glimmer of hope as he collected Adam Browne's clever chip over the on-rushing defence to kick through and collect the ball in time for the try line.

Aspull determined not to let Littleborough gather momentum, put another 10 points on. They scored in the right corner with the winger before the number 13 found a gap through the Littleborough defence.

Richard Taylor scored for Boro as the ball was worked to the right and got over the try line.

Adam Browne strong-armed his way through the Aspull defence.

In the closing stages Boro knew they needed just one try to seal an incredible draw from the most unlikely of scenarios after the first half. Putting huge pressure on Aspull, Littleborough pushed and probed but could not find the break through and left empty-handed.