Aspull struck early through their impressive 15 who proved a problem all afternoon. He ran a switch line in his own half and finished in between the posts.

Congleton were the better team in the first half, looking strong in possession and building the phases. The set piece in particular was firing, taking two Aspull scrums against the head.

Despite this and finding the space in the Aspull defence, the Bears lacked precision knocking on when it counted.

A fantastic 40m Joe Kanauros penalty bought the scores close to 5-3 with 30 minutes on the clock, but Aspull responded making it 13-3 at the break.

The heat had taken its toll on the Bears and it was Aspull who came out the blocks firing. Congleton’s trusty defence wasn’t at its best and Aspull demonstrated why they were pushing for promotion putting 54 points in total past the Bears.

Congleton did respond twice though through two substitutes, firstly Richard Burkard in the corner after some good offloading from the back rows Greg Wood and Luc Davenport. And then a first club try for Italian star Giulio Domina, who also celebrates his 18th Birthday this week, after Joe Kanauros and Ed Williams quick thinking at a penalty.

Final score Aspull 54 - 13