Pilkington Recs have won a second straight game to start the season after a 34-10 win at Ruskin Drive.

The home side made two changes coming into the game, Jonathan Frodsham carried on at full back in place of the injured Ryan Hilliard, while Mike Houghton took Frodsham's place on the wing. Meanwhile, Tom Chisnall came in for Andy Nisbet, who was ruled out after having to have stitches in a head injury he picked up in last week's win against York.

Despite the blustery conditions, it was Pilks who took the lead after just four minutes as Kyran Knapper picked the ball up and crashed over for his first try of the season. He then hit his conversion to extend the lead to six points.

Then just three minutes later, Pilks doubled their lead and Tez Riley continued his fine form this season by crashing over to grab a third try in two games. Knapper scored the conversion for a 12 point lead.

Saddleworth then tried a short kick off and it paid off for them as they were able to grab a try back. Josh Bradbury missed the conversion however, meaning the deficit was eight points for them.

However, their reprieve was short lived as four minutes later, Pilks extended the lead as Jamie Smith ran in and grabbed his first try of the afternoon. Knapper hit the conversion again to stretch their lead to 14 points.

Ten minutes later saw one of the games turning points as the Rangers had a player sent to the sin bin for a dangerous tackle, and Pilks made them pay straight from the resulting penalty as Smith exploited the gap to grab his second try of the afternoon. Knapper hit the conversion again to send Pilks in at half time with a 20 point lead.

The next big turning point came five minutes into the second half as Gavin Dodd was sent off after saying something out of turn to the referee whilst arguing a call to give Pilks the ball.

Five minutes later, Pilks made the extra man count as Ian Stanley exploited a gap out wide to score. Knapper would miss the conversion, his first miss of the season, but it was still a 24 point lead for the St Helens side.

The gaps were starting to open up and Tom Connickmanaged to get in through a gap and finished acrobatically under the posts. Knapper was back on target to stretch the lead out to 30 points.

Despite the deficit, the Rangers kept on going and ended up grabbing a try through Ethan Langhorn. Bradbury converted to add a little respectability to the score.

This was the last score of the game, but it wasn't without incident. Knapper went for a drop goal which hit the post and Tom Connick was caught offside going for the rebound. From the resulting penalty, Saddleworth failed to find touch and with that, the referee blew for full time.

Pilks have started the season with two straight wins, a brilliant turnaround in contrast to last season, where they lost their first two league games against Leigh Miners Rangers and Featherstone Lions. They are back in action next week as they head away from Ruskin Drive for the first time in 2019 against Oulton Raiders.