THE Pit Stop charity fundraising weekend brought the traditional sunshine and packed crowds to Sutton Park in aid of chosen charity State of Mind and thanks to the tireless work of the planning committee it was another successful and enjoyable event with live music and a packed programme of rugby activity.

On Friday evening the Miners Rangers Alliance team got things underway with an ultimately resounding victory over Wigan St Jude’s 58-10 with a treble of tries for Ryan Monaghan the headline as Miners cut loose after a tight first half to score some tremendous tries.

On Saturday the girls’ teams took the field with tough match-ups against Leigh East and Shaw Cross,

Although the younger generation struck a blow with victory for the under-14s against the coaches and parents’ team before the Masters defended their unbeaten record against State of Mind legends in a 1-1 draw, Matt Disley the scorer for Miners.

The first team lost 28-12 at home to in-form Cumbrian challengers Egremont and after an evenly-balanced opening hour the visitors took control to condemn Miners to defeat, albeit with the bottom three also all losing no immediate ground was lost in the battle for survival. Egremont drew first blood, but Miners bossed possession without managing to find a way through the defensive lines until some sparkling handling on the right flank had Elliot Ryan diving over at the corner flag, Jonny Youds with the fine conversion.

The game was evenly balanced but Egremont had the half time advantage of 10-6.

Miners battled to get back into the game but Egremont began turning the screw and as Miners’ defence worked overtime they ultimately cracked when another lost ball clearing their lines set the platform for Matty Henson to dive over from acting half under the posts.

The game was settled when Egremont scored two tries in quick succession. Miners did have the final word as Andy Philbin powered in for a try and Youds showed his kicking prowess from the opposite touchline but it was too little too late.

Twist Lane hosts a double-header tonight as the RAF are in town for the second annual challenge match, with the women kicking off at 6pm and the men at 8pm.