COLNE earned another bonus point win on Saturday to move into the top three of North Lancs 2.
Carnforth were the visitors to Holt House on Saturday to face the All Blacks.
Heavy rain had caused some doubts during the week on the pitch conditions but a last minute inspection and a bit of remedial work saw the pitch deemed playable.
Early exchanges went Colne’s way as some excellent forward drives from Nathan Singleton and Dan Frazer saw the home side retain much of the ball and pin the visitors down in their own half.
A well-rehearsed forwards move saw Adam Padget crash over for Colne’s first, with the conversion hitting the post.
Carnforth fought back, driving up the field, and looked like scoring, but a excellent rip of the ball and a chase up field had Carnforth defending their five metre line.
Another drive and Colne crossed over again under the posts, with Tindall adding the conversion.
Again Carnforth came back with a reply as a excellent move from the base of the scrum releasing their backs saw them gain the five points, but this fired the All Blacks up as Callum Kinnane off-loaded to Andy Grinrod, who kicked through the Carnforth line and chase it down to score at the side of the post.
The conversion was added to make it 19-5 to Colne.
Just before the half-time whistle, the visitors gained a penalty which was well-struck to close the gap to 19-8.
Carnforth came out of the blocks quicker the second half as their forwards drove the ball into the Colne 22, but excellent defence and pressure from the All Blacks left the visitors struggling to turn pressure into points.
Colne managed a turn over and an excellent breakaway from Matty Tindall saw him chip and chase to score an excellent try in the corner.
The conversion was missed, leaving the score at 24-8.
Carnforth never gave up and continued to add pressure to the Colne defensive line, but the All Blacks held strong in the mud and came away victors.
FINAL SCORE: Colne and Nelson 24, Carnforth 8