NORTHWICH welcomed back Tom Wood against his former Warrington team ­— and he was on the winning side by 27-3.

Other notable returns to the side were Chris James and the ever youthful Jan Cartman who along with Chris Heywood provided a strong bench.

During the first quarter of the match a very robust Warrington side took the game to Northwich.

Despite numerous efforts the Blacks could not shake off the visitors stranglehold and Warrington took the lead with a penalty when Northwich were deemed to have entered a ruck from the side.

The match continued to be an arm wrestle for the remainder of the half with only a Baldwin penalty for not releasing in the final minutes bringing the half to a close with honours even.

The second half saw the Blacks start to make some progress.

Man of the Man Matt Ensor led the way with some extremely strong carries allowing Northwich get behind the Warrington defensive line.

They were rewarded when Tom Husbands finished the move with a fine try.

Baldwin was on target with the extras and the Blacks took the lead, which they extended with a long range penalty.

Less than 10 minutes later Northwich bagged a second try after Ensor was held up inches from the line but Chris James was on hand to score by the posts giving Baldwin the easiest of conversions.

Warrington continued to offer stiff opposition but Scott Davidson asked question with some incisive charges.

Sam Naylor rounded off a fine performance with a converted try to bring a bruising encounter to a close.

A promising debut from Wood and a great return from Chris James and Chris Heywood, but Martin Poste will be looking to improve some areas of the game.

Northwich travel to Bowdon on Saturday, KO 3pm

1 Mike Bradshaw 2 Mike Gough 3 Mark Thompson 4 Matt Ensor 5 Patrick fray 6 Chris Dale 7 Sam Naylor 8 Shaun Burma 9 Matt Poste (Capt) 10 Nick Baldwin 11 Tom Husbands12 Tom Wood13 Scott Davidson 14 Kyle Clarke 15 Richard Dale 16 Chris James 17 Chris Heywood18 Jan Cartman