Aspatria Rugby Club blew away Hawcoat Park with a 13-try romp at Bower Park to stay top of North Lancs/Cumbria.

The 77-5 victory sees them hold a one-point advantage over second-placed De La Salle.

It is, however, a slender lead in this highly competitive league, where only four points separate the top six clubs.

Aspatria were on the scoreboard with less than two minutes played.

Back-rower Greg Dickinson secured possession from a line-out 25 metres out from the Hawcoat line, and the ball went immediately across field where Lee Tinnion joined the line from full-back.

The timing of the run was perfect and Tinnion’s run proved unstoppable as he glided in at the right corner flag for the opening, unconverted try.

Following the restart, Aspatria were caught offside and afforded Park the opportunity of an immediate response but the kick was driven wide by the wind.

After nine minutes, Aspatria robbed a Park line-out and Dickinson used the possession to drive upfield.

When the charge halted, the ball was slung out across the back-line, finding the hands of left-winger Patrick Noutch who had the gas to round the last defender and race 30 metres to the line.

The pace of Noutch delivered a third try on 17 minutes after some precise inter-passing between centres Andrew Miller and Craig Foster.

The visitors showed plenty of commitment but they were now regularly losing key battles at both scrum and line-out.

It was no surprise when Aspatria registered the bonus-point try on 23 minutes.

Foster exploited space to charge down the right flank and, with men outside him to distract the defenders, a simple shimmy to his left put him over the line.

The fifth score came less than three minutes later.

A poor clearing kick only reached Tinnion and he made a good 40 metres before off-loading the ball to Fraser McNee. The winger still had defenders in front of him but his ability to step off both feet was enough to get him home.

The end result of this game was no longer in doubt but, to their credit, Park refused to lie down and stunned Aspatria with a superb attack on 30 minutes, sparked by No.8 Alfie White. They should have registered a first score but, with the line open, a final pass was rushed and the chance went begging.

With no reward for a good spell of rugby, Park ran out of steam just short of half-time and two further tries were conceded.

Aspatria’s sixth was the result of some good forward play with second-rowers Liam Ridley and Richard Miller creating an opportunity for Dickinson to break away and score under the posts.

Then, No.8 Gary Hodgson broke the defensive line and also went between the sticks.

Hawcoat were first to score on the restart. Centre Calum Ramsey, who had a fine individual game, went on a run that broke several tackles.

He got support near the line where Chris Burns was able to reach over and dot down near the left corner flag.

Aspatria responded from the restart to record try number eight from a trademark penalty, catch and drive. With ground gained, the ball was moved to the backs and McNee scored his second.

Park’s defence was in disarray and, when Hodgson burst through some half-hearted tackling 40 metres out, he had a gentle stroll under the posts.

With 55 minutes played, a ball was turned over in the home 22.

Tinnion seized his opportunity and conjured up an 80-metre special. Ball in hand, Tinnion barged through the first-up tacklers and then it was a simple foot race, near enough the length of Bower Park for a spectacular try.

Heine Jonker joined the action from the bench and made an immediate impression with try number 11.

Foster’s immaculately timed pass provided Jonker with the gap he needed to go in at the corner flag.

Andrew Miller got Aspatria to 70 points with a carbon copy try.

As several of his team-mates had already found out, if the first tackle was broken, Park had passed the point where there was any secondary cover.

The final score was a little different with stand-off Ryan Scott sliding a grubber kick through the defensive line.

The kick allowed Noutch to come off his wing and hack the ball towards the posts where he easily won the race to dot down and bring the game to a close.