This fixture against these two old rivals might not have the same cachet as in days of yore but this was a very important contest nonetheless. With the home side just one point above the eleventh place visitors it was all to play for to get out of a possible relegation 'dog fight' as the final stages of the season approaches.
The honours this time went to Broughton Park who are now five points ahead of their Merseyside rivals leaving Firwood Waterloo in the relegation zone following Burnage's 34-32 win at home to Blackburn.
However with just seven points separating twelfth from seventh there is still much to play for and although the Blundellsands outfit now have a job on their hands they are well capable of fighting their way back up the table.
"Make no mistake Broughton Park are a useful side with a quite a 'nifty' backline, " stated head coach Stuart Turner. "We made far too many mistakes and they had the presence and the pace to punish us for them."
"It's all about small margins at this level and it is something we just have to turn in our favour," he continued. "At the moment we are lacking consistency. We can build an attack but then we make a mistake and the opposition pounce and that is what happened with two of the tries they scored today. We are low on confidence at the moment but we have no game this coming Saturday so we have time to get our mind set right before we take on Anselmians at home on 9th February."
Good work from the set piece was in fact the main difference between the two sides with Broughton Park's first two scores demonstrating two examples of how to use opportunities to put points on the board.
"They are a tidy side and certainly deserved to take the points this afternoon," Turner conceded.
Broughton Park closed the half 22-0 ahead.
Firwood Waterloo made a much better fist of the second period and managed to keep hold of the ball long enough to get Tom Lavell over. Although Darragh O'Brien was unsuccessful with the conversion he slotted a penalty to add some respectabilty to the scoreline.
"We obviously have a lot of work to do," Turner admitted. "We are at the wrong end of the table and all we can do is work hard to dig ouselves out. I believe we can do that as long as we stay solid and work together to turn the situation round."
Firwood Waterloo have no game this Saturday but return to action at home to Anselmians on 9th February kick off 2.15pm.
