THE very heavy pitch suited the home side's massive forwards and as a result Ruskin went down to their heaviest defeat of the season.

Up front they were driven back at a rate of knots in the scrums and destroyed in the line out, Ruskin rarely saw the ball, and were forced to defend for long periods.

On the rare occasions they did manage to attack, they showed much of the flair that has gained them so much success in recent seasons.

Mike Farrelly scored a wonderful try in the first half, and Ricky Hall put in some useful runs on the wing, but all in all it was never Ruskin's day.

Things might have been different if a couple of breaks by Dave Donovan had brought tries at crucial moments, but each time the final pass went to ground. It really was that type of day.

The second XV also went down heavily at Trafford MV. The high points being two tries from Martin Birch to bring his total to nine in the last three weeks, one from man of the match Ian Loftus, and a blockbusting effort from prop forward Gordon Roberts. Stuart Fisher, back from injury kicked four goals.

l LSH'S North One fixture at Sheffield was postponed due to a frozen pitch and is likely to be rearranged for Saturday 12 February.

Head Coach Paul Woodward, though improved since the new year, is still out of action awaiting surgery on his arm. Kevin Greaves continues to take charge of the 1st XV.

Manchester 2nds 50 LSH 2nd

Although Manchester deserved their win the scoreline barely does justice to the seconds.

The home side scored three tries from moves after penalties in the first 15 minutes putting LSH, for whom big Phil Hewitt made a welcome return, on the back foot for the rest of the game.

Two further scores gave Manchester a 31-0 lead at half time.

A much improved second half performance brought a try from Ray Doolan after good work from Jake Capel and Chris Stabler in reply to three further scores from Manchester.

On this form Michael Jones and Ray Doolan must surely be challenging for first team places while newcomers Gaz Tudor at flanker and Tom Nelson at centre are not far behind.

LSH 1st XV return to North One action against Morley at Moss Lane this Saturday ( 29 January) kick off 2.15pm.