Gareth Hobson scored a hat-trick of tries as Queensbury edged to a narrow 16-12 Pennine League local derby win over Clayton.

With visitors Bury chasing the leading pack and Clayton needing valuable points to edge clear of the Premier Division drop zone, the stage was set for an epic encounter.

'Bury were quickest out of the blocks and took an early advantage when the

elusive Hobson skipped over for his first try before promptly scoring a second on the 20-minute mark.

Johnny Feather added one conversion to give the away side a 10-0 lead.

Clayton refused to let their heads go down and a smart piece of poaching by centre Richard Couzens saw him intercept a stray ball and race to the whitewash to bring the villagers back into

contention.

As the first half came to a close it was Clayton who were on top and a neat piece of work by Australian scrum half Scott Holt saw him collect a four-pointer.

The subsequent conversion left the interval score all square at 10-10.

Clayton came out fired up for the second half and, thanks to one of many penalties awarded by referee Wilf George, half-back Scott Pendlebury edged them into a two-point lead.

Both sides continued to look to throw the ball around but despite their best efforts neither team could take a grip of the game.

The match ebbed and flowed until, with 20 minutes to go, Hobson took a beautiful offload from a scrum attack and duly completed his hat-trick.

Feather successfully converted to give Bury a hard-earned win.

Clayton coach Richard Heseltine said: "We missed our goal-kicker in such a close match. We played well but missed out on the points again."

Dudley Hill ran out 34-12 Division One winners in their local derby battle with West Bowling A.

Things remained even for most of the game until Hill finally took control in the last 20 minutes. Scorers for Bowling were Paul Gardener and stand-off Mark Dunning, while full back Asley Wood kicked two goals.

Elsewhere in the section, Victoria Rangers were unable to leapfrog Halifax rivals Park Amateurs as they were beaten 24-6.

Undercliffe kept in touch with Division Three table-toppers Dearne Valley Bulldogs by dispatching lowly Underbank 48-12.

Tight defence, mixed with some great attacking play, saw Undercliffe take a commanding 20-6 lead at the break.

With the continual prompting of playmaker Chris Robinson and the power of the forwards clearly too much for the

visitors, it came as no surprise that the home side ran out comfortable winners.

Try-scorers for Undercliffe were Deo Smith (2), Liam Jordan (2), Lee Nellist, Chris Robinson, Alex Scargill, Jonny Hoatham and Steve Gregory. Conversions were shared between Steve Halliwell (3), Smith, Jordan and Gregory.