North Wales Crusaders U12s suffered their first defeat of the Nortth West Counties League campaign at home to a well-drilled and organised Hindley side.

The visitors' superior experience proved the decisive factor in an absorbing contest, which was a great advert for the junior game.

The hosts fronted up well in the physical stakes early in the game and were unafraid to pass and offload the ball swiftly.

But their progress was hindered by handling errors and forced passes that gifted Wigan side Hindley a strong field position on a number of occasions and allowed them to build a 14-6 lead by half-time.

A much-changed Cru set-up emerged for the second half and competed well in the third quarter, before Hindley pulled away on the scoreboard and ran out deserved 33-10 winners.

Crusaders head coach Allen Jones said: “Hindley are a very good side, they have lost only once this season, a cup semi-final, and for large parts of the game we matched up really well.

"The big difference was that Hindley were a lot smarter than us, made fewer errors and took advantage of our errors. The boys will have learnt a lot from today which will stand them in good stead for the future.

"This squad is developing very nicely and we gave 20 boys some significant game time against good quality opponents”

The Cru boys are next in action on July 1 with an away trip to Altrincham to take on South Trafford.

Flintshire Falcons under 13s began their season at South Trafford Raiders in the Player Development League.

A cracking match played over four quarters saw Falcons secure a thrilling 18-16 win on tries scored, with Henry Jacobsen running in a tremendous 10-try effort. Jonathan Dessington scored four tries, Harrison Till two and Sam Robertson and Saul Hope added one each. Get in contact at falconsrlfc@gmail.com or come down to a training session at 10:30am on Saturday mornings at Deeside Leisure Centre.