WESTHOUGHTON Lions have a well-earned week off after they convincingly defeated Runcorn 38-18 on Saturday.

The victory saw Ryan Berry score a hat-trick of tries and move the Lions up to sixth in North West Men's League Division Four.

Westhoughton went into the game having to field another heavily-changed side, after several players were unavailable for selection, and in the early minutes it appeared it would cost them.

Runcorn romped into a 12-0 lead in the opening five minutes, exploiting weak tackles and gaps in the Lions defence.

It was an issue the team sorely needed to address and once they did they took control of the game, running in four converted tries, the pick of which saw man-of-the-match Berry break through the Runcorn defence, running 60 metres before offloading to send his support in for a try.

The men in blue and gold went in leading 24-18 at half time.

The second half started in tight fashion, neither side getting on the scoresheet for the opening 20 minutes and exchanging blows in midfield.

But the Lions then took the game to Runcorn once again and scored three more tries, converting one.

The result left assistant coach Geoff Sheehan in confident mood ahead of Westhoughton's next game away to table-topping Rochdale Cobras.

He said: "Rugby league is a tough sport so the break will give us time to heal a few injuries and get a settled team together.

"They may be top but we will go to Rochdale confident and with a game plan in place. You can rest assured we will give them a good game whether it is home or away."