» February 14th 2001
» Town 42 : 0 Chorley Lynx

Town eventually won this fixture which everyone expected to be easy victory, but the first half showing from the Lynx made this a far from easy outcome.

This was a night when all Town fans expected the team to put the points 'for' advantage on the league table, back into Town's favour. This cause was hampered by some dubious refereeing decisions and the spoiling tactics of the opposition. An eight-try demolition job brought the victory in the end. Gary Murdock must be pleased that the Lynx were prevented from scoring a single point.

The early exchanges saw the Lynx halfbacks of Ashton and Fisher controlling the Lynx attacks, which kept the Town defence busy. The Town attacks were also making little progress. The opposition seemed to get everything they appealed for. Lynx players laid on in the tackle and were never punished, they never seemed to be onside and yet Town were punished for everything.

On eight minutes Town took the lead. An earlier scrum had got Town into the Lynx half and three good drives had the Lynx defence under pressure. The next drive was taken in by Hitro Okesene who ploughed through the weak tackles to score the first points of the evening. Tane Manihera added the goal to put Town into a 6 - 0 lead.

The It would be close to the halftime break before any further points would be added to the score. On 35 minutes Carl Sice made a brilliant break from inside his own half and ran well over fifty metres before he was tackled. Sice was held down in the tackle whilst trying to get up quickly to play the ball. Tane Manihera easily kicked the resulting penalty to extend the Town lead to 8 - 0.

Halftime time was close, but Town kept driving for the Lynx line. Rumney created the gap and released Jamie Beaumont who had support on both sides, but passed inside when the outside was a better option. The next drive saw Rumney again create the gap and Lokeni Savelio broke for the line and passed out of the tackle to Fata Sini to score. Tane Manihera converted to give Town a 14 - 0 lead at halftime.

The second half started much in the same vein as the first. Chorley were starting to press, but the Town Defence held. On fifty minutes Chorley thought they had scored when Graham Taberner broke through, but he was brought back for the forward pass.

This stirred Town into action. Craig Rumney ran the ball on the last tackle, passed to Jamie Beaumont who strode through the Lynx defence and scored out wide. Tane Manihera missed with the conversion attempt to give Town an 18 - 0 lead.

Jamie Beaumont scored again two minutes later. Again Town elected to run the ball on the last tackle. Tane Manihera passed out wide to Steve McGrady who burst down the right wing and passed to the supporting Fata Sini, who drew in the defence and released Beaumont to score his second try. Tane Manihera again missed with the conversion to keep the Town lead at 22 - 0.

On 68 minutes it was Steve McGrady who added to the points tally. Rumney again providing the pass and McGrady show his turn of speed as he went round three defenders to score in the corner. Tane Manihera missed the conversion from out wide. Town had extended their lead to 26 - 0.

On 71 minutes Town further extended their lead. Chorley attempted the kick through on the last, but Tane Manihera charged down the ball, picked it up and passed to Neil Frazer who drew the defence and then passed to Graeme Lewthwaite who ran 35 yards to score under the posts. Tane Manihera added the conversion to make the Town lead 32 - 0.

The last eight minutes saw Town score 2 further tries, both scored by William Blackburn. The first after some good drives from Fata Sini and Graeme Lewthwaite and good passing allowed William Blackburn to crash through a gap in the defence to score. The second after Rumney kicked to the corner, where Fata Sini collected and passed inside to William Blackburn who stretched for the line evading the tacklers to score. Craig Rumney added one of the conversion attempts to make the final score 42 - 0 to Town.

Town:-
Town: Jamie Smith, Fata Sini, Steve McGrady, Leigh Smith, Graeme Lewthwaite, Tane Manihera, Craig Rumney, Hitro Okesene, Carl Sice, Lokeni Savelio, Jamie Beaumont, Matt Sturm, Anthony Samuel.
Subs: William Blackburn, Matthew Tunstall, Neil Frazer, Stuart Hoyles

Attendance: 674