After being unlucky in defeat at Warrington, St Benedict’s were hopeful of recording a home win against Burnage but went down 33-11.

Saints continue to suffer from a much depleted squad due to injuries and unavailabilities, which makes it hard in a competitive and demanding North One West.

Burnage’s forward were able to dominate up front for most of the game and consequently they enjoyed the lion’s share of possession for most of the game.

The home side had to tackle like demons to keep in touch with their visitors until the last quarter of the game when they ran out of steam.

In the end, they just could not cope with an enthusiastic Burnage side who eventually gained some breathing space with two late converted tries.

Earlier, the Saints kept in touch through a try from lively prop Craig and two penalty goals from Kyle Hiddleston.

Saints remain ninth in the table due to the five teams below them also failing to register a win.

Their nearest challengers are eight points behind and have played two more games than the west Cumbrians.

All is not lost for Saints as they bid to retain their North One West status but they need a good few more of their absent players to return to the fold as soon as possible.

Following their magnificent 2015/16 season, when they completed a league and cup double losing only one game, and reached a major Twickenham final, the Saints are having to dig much deeper this time round.