LIVERPOOL St Helens took the field at Moss lane for the first time in six weeks, losing 42-5 to Disbury TOC H.

The side still suffering from the aftermath of an unfortunate Friday night at Leigh and the enforced absence of their skipper, which, together with other absences saw what can only be described as a disjointed back line.

Even so, they were thoroughly outplayed by a well organised, disciplined and clever Didsbury outfit ultimately making their pace and fitness tell. Belying their position in the ADM Premier Division table they ran in worthy winners by seven tries to one.

LSH, particularly in the first half had plenty of possession with the pack more than holding their own but with Didsbury regularly gaining possession and kicking ruthlessly and long down the flanks, the game was mainly played in LSH’s half.

The visitors started much the better and registered two tries in the first fifteen minutes. LSH replied with a really excellent try involving an initial burst from Connor Thompson, carried on by Sean Richardson and Robert Sexton before Alex McClurg crashed over in the right hand corner. 5-12. Any hopes of a comeback were immediately dashed when TOC H scored immediately on the restart and followed this with a penalty try before the break. 5-24

The second half saw the visitors land a penalty and score three more tries as the terraces began to empty as a cold wind began to blow colder.

Despite an excellent defensive display, particularly in the first half, West Park were eventually defeated 31-10 by League leaders Fleetwood, though a catalogue of injuries, and a rash of often unnecessary yellow cards eventually proved decisive .

An excellent though unconverted try by full back Pape replied to the visitor’s earlier converted try, but two yellow cards received by Park for technical offences within minutes of each other, allowed the visitors numerical advantage to add two further tries to give them a 19 pt lead at half time.

Injuries to Park’s front row and replacements saw uncontested scrums for a large part of the game, the visitors taking greater advantage of Park’s plague of injuries to add two further tries in the second half.

The home side showed admirable resilience in the face of often overwhelming odds and arguably finished the stronger of the two teams, a blockbusting run from prop Berry yielding him a try to give some reward for the home team’s dogged effort throughout this difficult encounter.

On Saturday West Park entertain LSH , kick of 2.15 pm