SLAITHWAITE A secured a 22-14 triumph at Meltham All Blacks in a hard-fought Division V derby clash.

The win made it six wins out of six for the Saracens and leaves them two points clear at the top from Newsome Panthers A, who returned to winning ways with an excellent 40-34 victory at fellow title-chasers Hollinwood.

As the score at Meltham suggests, Slaithwaite didn’t have it all their own way, with the All Blacks leading 8-4 at half-time.

Richardson was the first to strike with a try, converted by Atkinson, as Meltham quickly made their intentions clear.

And despite Lee Hurd hitting back for Saracens, an Atkinson penalty helped keep the home side’s noses in front.

It got even better for Meltham at the start of the second half as Meltham man-of-the-match Roebuck scored a superb solo try, again converted by Atkinson, to make it 14-4.

But it was then the visitors finally came to life, with Saracens man-of-the-match Hurd sparking the revival with his second try.

Minutes later Gavin Dyson was on hand to level the scores with Slaithwaite try No3 before he followed up with a penalty to give his side the lead for the first time.

Then with the best move of the match Jake Smith crossed for a converted try under the posts to help maintain Slaithwaite’s perfect start to the campaign.

But waiting for any slip-up are Newsome’s second string, who were made to battle all the way to overcome Hollinwood.

The Panthers couldn’t have asked for a better start as they scored off their first set with a try in the corner from Will Smith, converted superbly from the touchline by Ross Studholme.

Unfortunately, however, that proved to be a wake-up call for the hosts who ran in five unanswered tries to make it 22-6.

At that stage, it wasn’t looking good for the visitors, but Martin Robinson gave his side some hope by powering over for Newsome’s second converted try to make it 22-12 at the break.

That momentum was taken into the second half as man-of-the-match Steve Lockwood added the first of his two tries and then Marcus Kenchington grabbed Newsome’s fourth

The Panthers were then guilty of taking their foot off the gas and allowing Hollinwood to regain the lead at 34-24.

But in the final 14 minutes the visitors struck three times through Matthew Oldfield, Lockwood and Jamie Taylor.