BOLTON Mets' winning run came to end with a 44-12 home defeat to North West Men's League Division Five leaders Littleborough.

After back-to-back victories, Mets knew they had a tough encounter on their hands and so it proved early on with the men from Rochdale starting brightly.

They ran in five first half tries, with the addition of three successful conversions, to open up a 26-0 lead and put the hosts on the back foot.

A rare mets highlight of the opening half was a break by centre Paul Leigh down the left and, despite having several players surrounding him, he still managed to release the ball to winger Aaron Hunt who dived over in the corner for his first club try in only his second outing.

At the break, coach Al Scarbrough had to lay down the law to his troops due to the performance being less than adequate.

Having lost Darren Robinson Jnr to an early injury, Josh Bourne was now partnering Rob Tuppen in the second row, while Jason Nuttall replaced debutant Ed Wiseman at prop forward.

And Mets knew they had to raise the intensity in the second half if they were to have any chance of getting back into the game.

Centre Gavin Hatton took the bull by the horns with several strong carries down the right, while Ryan Terry also made inroads through the middle.

However, the Littleborough defence held firm and limited Mets' chances to get near the try line.

Once back in possession, the away side added to their score with another try after several missed tackles allowed them to breeze through the home side's defence.

Despite trailing 32-4, Mets had a good 15-minute spell where they managed to stem the flow of points with some solid defence led by Tuppen and Terry.

And only a last ditch tackle by the Littleborough full-back stopped Leigh crossing the line.

Some quick thinking by hooker Neil Walsh saw him score from the resulting play to make it two tries in two games for the Mets stalwart.

The hard running forwards of Littleborough continued to cause problems as the game progressed and this led to two further tries late in the half which secured their second victory at Avenue Street this season.

Bourne made sure Mets had the last word, though, with a trademark barnstorming run.

Receiving the ball 15 metres out, he charged forward and dragged three would-be tacklers over the line with him to touch down.

It was not a day for the Mets kickers as the third conversion was missed.

Terry and Walsh were runners-up in the opposition's man-of-the-match award as Hunt took the honour for his strong tackling and relentless running.

Showing real signs of progress Tuppen was picked out as top tackler for the second time this season.

This weekend Mets are on the road at Aspull New Springs.