TRAFFORD MV showed too much festive goodwill when they went down 32-22 at De La Salle and returned with just a losing bonus point in their final North Lancs/Cumbria Division outing of 2016.

Trafford kicked off confidently and forced a scrum from the receiving catch which then led to an offside decision against the home defence.

MV kicked deep into the corner and from a well-taken line-out patient control saw the resulting maul being driven over the Salfordians' line with hooker Ross Anderson claiming the touchdown to give the visitors a 5-0 lead.

MV then lost prop Joe Cooper following a clash of heads.

The hosts had strong runners up the middle of the pitch and managed to get into the Trafford 22, forcing a penalty which was given away by Danny Burke for not rolling away from the tackle and it was kicked successfully.

From the restart Trafford were again on the attack and good support play allowed for quick ball from the breakdown which was passed down the line to Jamie Kingdon who powered over in the corner to make it 10-3.

More bad luck fell MV's way with a double blow in the next few minutes.

Skipper Andrew Quigley and then influential centre Eddie Brady were both forced to leave the pitch with hamstring injuries. 

De La Salle came back at MV and got back into the Trafford half of the pitch and had some good possession.

Trafford managed to kick clear for the ball to be caught by the home winger who was quickly tackled by Kingdon who then managed to rip the ball free and race 50 metres to score under the posts.

Pat Eccles converted this time for a 17-3 lead.

MV were on top, kicking well to keep De La Salle in their own half, however they powered over before half time to reduce the arrears.

After the break, De La Salle won an early penalty and looped a pass over the top of the MV defence to score in the left corner.

The added extras nudged the home team into the lead for the first time in the game.

De La Salle were now building up a head of steam and their forwards were taking the game to MV.

They scored twice with Trafford players falling off tackles and MV's defensive efforts were just not good enough to stop the attacks.

Both tries were well converted for a healthy 32-17 lead.

MV did not give up, though, and pounced on a dropped ball with Clegg hacking on into space.

Centre Matt Coxon picked up and popped the ball to support players and as the cover defence scrambled back, a long pass wide to winger Kingdon enabled him to score his third try of the game and MV's fourth to salvage the bonus point. 

MV return to action on January 7 at Littleborough.