West Bowling expected a difficult game at Wigan St Judes in the National Conference and so it proved as they went down 28-18.

Wigan St Judes, coached by ex-Wigan forward Graham West, took little time in getting into top gear and went ahead after only five minutes. The try was converted and Bowling were 6-0 down before they had chance to settle into their game plan.

It wasn't long before the lead was extended after a mixture of some good play from St Judes and some poor defending from Bowling the Wigan outfit crossed the line again with the conversion to follow.

The loss of centre Martin Tordoff with a knee injury only served to compound matters for the Bradford side although the arrival of substitute Peter Simpson gave them a much-needed spark in attack.

After 21 minutes the home side were rewarded with a third try to go in at the break 16-0 ahead.

A tough team talk from coach Glenn Barraclough saw Bowling emerge for the second half in determined mood. However despite efforts from props Jason Hoyland with some hard-earned yards and Johnny Smith with a fine tackling display, Wigan St Judes continued to make the running.

Bowling worked hard but with St Judes offloading the ball in the tackle far too often and supporting well it was always going to be difficult for Bowling to peg back the opposition.

After 70 minutes with Bowling missing too many tackles and failing to put the man to ground St Judes eased their way into a 28-0 lead.

The introduction of strong running second row forward Jason Page from the bench strengthened the Bowling defence and he made some good forward runs to put them on the offensive.

After a good spell of possession centre Paul Gardner crashed through a number of potential tacklers to register Bowling's first points. Simpson subsequently added the conversion.

Bowling kept on the attack in what was probably their best spell of the game and with minutes remaining winger Paul Cornforth crossed to add a further four points, Simpson again converting.

There was just enough time for winger Chris Scott to cross the line to make the score more respectable.

Simpson made it three from three attempts and was rewarded with the man-of-the-match award.

After the game Barraclough was in optimistic mood saying: "We were resoundingly beaten by a well organised side but we will put the game behind us and hope to learn from it in time for the return game at Bankfoot."

In the Yorkshire Cup first round Birkenshaw emphatically despatched opponents Brookhouse of the Yorkshire League 48-10.

Birkenshaw proved to be too quick and powerful in all departments for Brookhouse. However it was a closely fought battle in the first half with both teams trying to gain the upper hand.

With tries from free-scoring winger Jason Brooksbank and loose forward John Turpin, both converted, Birkenshaw were happy to enter the break with a slender lead of 12-10.

The second half proved to be a completely different affair as Birkenshaw began to take control of the game. Brooksbank led the charge crossing a further three times to take his personal tally for the game to four. He was supported by Jarrod Toulson with two tries along with Dave Turpin, Morten Robinson, Simon Armitage and Lee Wilkins who all collected a try apiece.

Prop forward Wilkins, a new signing from Undercliffe, particularly caught the eye with a strong running performance for the Bradford side.