DESPITE being slightly disjointed at times, Tyldesley put in a solid team performance to record a 34-19 victory over a robust and resilient Marple side that battled and dominated the game for long spells.

Playing into the wind Tyldesley took their limited first-half chances well, which was the main difference between these two sides, in particular man-of-the-match Mark Dickinson, whose predatory instincts finished off some excellent team play on his way to four tries.

Brisk handling from one side of the pitch to the other, saw Tom Lloyd cross for the first score of the day, within a minute of the kick off.

Marple levelled the scored five minutes later with an unconverted try, but within three minutes the Blue and Whites had regained the lead.

Excellent play from Carl Redford and Danny Kilshaw created space for Dickinson to score the first of his quartet.

His second came two minutes later when he dashed over from 15 yards after supporting a superb break by Gavin Hunter and his third came just six minutes later when he intercepted a loose pass. Two Martin Wallbank conversions have Tyldesley a commanding 24-6 lead.

But Marple dominated the last 1ast 20 minutes of the first period and Tyldesley were made to defend well until the pressure finally told with the visitors scoring two converted tries to cut the deficit to just five points at the break.

Both sides defended well in the second half, but Tyldesley had the edge, denying the visitors a point while taking the chances that came their way.

Dean Brown set up Dickinson with a delightful pass after being stopped just short of the line and Hunter rounded off the scoring when he gathered a loose ball from a lineout close to the Marple line, before touching down in the fifty sixth minute, both tries converted by Wallbank.

Tyldesley Colts host Oswestry in the RFU National Under-17s competition, northern division quarter-final on Sunday, kick-off 12.30 pm.