A last-minute penalty to Accrington and the resultant kick by Ryan Pearson from 37 metres out earned the Panthers a 24-24 draw against Culcheth Eagles.

The home side started best and scored two tries in the opening 12 minutes to race to an early 10-0 lead.

The Panthers, fielding only the bare 13 due to unavailability from other members of the squad, knuckled down to their task finally gaining territorial advantage. The Panthers were held up twice over the opposition line and denied tries.

A positional change with Ian Targett moving to the stand off position then gave more options out wide and from a resulting scrum Targett broke the defensive line then beat two defenders to put the Panthers back into the match with a try next to the posts. Pearson kicked the conversion and 10-6 remained the score going into half time.

Drizzle through the second half continued with both sides dropping the slippery ball. Accrington, however, held territorial advantage and were finally rewarded with a try to Sam White as the Panthers took the lead for the first time in the match.

An injury to James Howorth meant a reluctant O’Rourke Snr was forced to play out the remainder of the match.

His organisation play around the ruck led to more sustained pressure on the Culcheth line forcing two drop outs after White was denied a second try.

On 64 minutes, Ryan Pearson scampered from dummy half wide out down the blind side to score a metre in from the corner flag. The conversion was missed from wide out with Accrington then leading 16-10.

Culcheth responded with two further tries to again take the lead at 20-16. Accrington however looked the better side and again camped themselves in the opposition quarter.

The play of the match then saw Brindle work a run around movement with O’Rourke Snr only for the ball to be slipped back inside where son Ashley gathered to split the defence and score unopposed next to the posts. O’Rourke secured the conversion and again Accrington put their noses in front.

Culcheth again responded with only moments remaining on the clock for their big number 17 to score out wide.

This put the home side in front but, from the resultant kick off, the Panthers forced an error and secured the ball for what would be the final set of the match.

A high tackle on the last play of the match gave Pearson the opportunity to level up at 24-24.

Under pressure young Pearson duly responded with the ball sailing over the crossbar for a deserved draw.

The opposition man of match went to Ian Targett while Sam White was solid in defence. Brown and Cornthwaithe were solid in the forwards while the experienced Brindle was the pick of the backs.