UPPER Eden were cruelly robbed of victory despite a spirited return to form against Blackpool at Pennine Park on Saturday.

Blackpool were trailing 23-17 with only minutes remaining when Upper Eden conceded possession in the Blackpool 22 and the visiting right-winger was put away down his flank. Unfortunately, he was seen to take at least three strides in touch' but there was no flag from the touch judge and the referee didn't spot the offence, and he ran on to score a simple try under the posts which was duly converted to give Blackpool an unlikely 25-23 victory.

The incident left a bad taste after the match and was a bitter disappointment for a resurgent Upper Eden, who had reorganised their line-up in a bid to end a three-match losing sequence.

Ian Gowing returned to hooker, Karl Haygarth was switched to second row, Paul Alderson came into the back row and Dave Pearson, from the second team, came in at No.8 to stiffen up the forwards.

The plan was to return to a much tighter forward-led game and work the ball around the edges, only spinning it wide when necessary. And it was a plan that worked a treat, penning in Blackpool's speedy backs, until that fateful break-out.

Good pressure brought Upper Eden an early penalty try which was converted by Rick Heron. Then Heron kicked a penalty under the posts before several Blackpool thrusts brought them a score under the posts which they converted.

Jimmy Thompson finished off some good driving around the fringes with a second Upper Eden try and, with the haf-time score at 15-07, Upper Eden seemed to be running the game.

But Blackpool scored in a corner from a tap-penalty after the restart and prompted Upper Eden to repeatedly drive at their line in an effort to open up another gap on the scoreboard. Eventually, the effort produced a penalty which Heron kicked, taking the score to 18-12. Upper Eden continued to keep things tight and after the Blackpool scrum-half was sin-binned for a blatant kick, the ball was spun out from a set srcrum for Alderson to score in the corner.

Blackpool fought back, creating an overlap to score an unconverted try and take the score to 23-17, but it still looked like Upper Eden's game until a chip kick behind their line resulted in the match-winning break.

With only two minutes remaining, Upper Eden went close again through Jimmy Thompson, but it was not to be and Blackpool held on.

This Saturday sees Upper Eden at Rossendale for a tough encounter with a much-improved side.

- An under-strength Boars side lost 69-5 at Northallerton with only 12 men.