New Brighton . . . . . . . . . . . 34pts, Liverpool St Helens . . . . . . 12pts

NEW Brighton's victory over Liverpool St Helens could be used to measure how much the Wirral club has developed in recent times.

A minute's silence was observed before the kick-off in memory of David Ibison, who died last week following a 3.5 year battle against cancer. David, a popular and much respected member, played 363 games for the club between 1957-73.

The Blues went ahead after nine minutes when captain Geoff Jones powered in for a try after a 40-yard run. Paul Brett converted for 7-0.

Andy Whalley scored another try and Brett converted for 14-0 on 14 minutes. Then Brett burst through to send Whalley in for his second try for 19-0 on 21 minutes. Brett missed the conversion. Kay added another try for a half-time score of 24-0.

The second-half continued very much the same as the first with Brett adding a penalty for the Blues on 48 minutes. Just after the hour, the crowd was stirred to life by a superb Kennedy break that split the defence and found Whalley, who in turn found Kevin Brookman, who celebrated his first start of the season with a try (34-0).

Liverpool St Helens staged a late revival with tries from Simms and Carter. Cummins added one conversion and a disappointing game ended with New Brighton taking the points to maintain their championship challenge.

At a time when many rugby clubs around the country are selling off assets, accumulating crippling debts and struggling to make ends meet, Wirral's premier rugby club appears to have found the recipe for maintaining dynamic development both on and off the field. There is a 'buzz' at Reeds Lane which, with further community involvement, promises Premiership rugby on the Wirral peninsula early in the new Millennium.

Converted for the new archive on 13 March 2001. Some images and formatting may have been lost in the conversion.