BIRKENHEAD PARK maintained their unbeaten home record with a 29-10 bonus point victory over West Hartlepool in National Three North.
It was a much improved performance but the visitors made life difficult for Park and led 10-7 with half an hour to go.
Skipper Chris Jones led the way with two tries and further efforts by Rob Houliston and Ollie Mabbot secured the win and the bonus point.
Jones said: “This was the best response to the heavy defeat at Waterloo last week.
“We had to work extremely hard and I was pleased with the effort the lads put in. It takes character to come back from a heavy defeat, especially in a local derby, and hopefully we have now put that game firmly behind us. West Hatlepool have had some good results and we expected them to give us a good contest and that was what we got. We raised our game in the last half hour and that made the difference.W
Park moved into fourth position with Darlington replacing Chester at the top.
Park resume their travels on Saturday as they visit Yorkshire outfit Sandal.
Director of rugby John McNally said: “It will be another difficult assignment at Sandal. They ended Chester’s unbeaten record two weeks ago and will obviously be tough opponents, particularly on their own patch.”
