SWINTON LIONS 24 WORKINGTON TOWN 14
IAN RIGG, Heywood Road, Sunday
TWO Swinton tries in the last 14 minutes secured a dramatic win against a well-drilled Workington side that looked to have had the points in the bag.
Both sides made an untidy start before Town forced an early goal-line drop-out, which they were unable to exploit.
The Lions then forced their own goal-line drop-out, which resulted in the opening score when Jack Stevens put in a nice kick towards the Workington line and it bounced up nicely for Kenny Baker to collect and touch down under the posts, with Will Roberts converting from in front.
Town were forced into making another goal-line drop-out but they went short with it and knocked on, giving the ball back to the Lions but standing firm in defence.
Baker almost had a second on 23 minutes but couldn’t hold a short pass from Adam Sidlow that might have put him over the line.
Dave Eccleston then found himself in space chasing a long kick from Dom Wear, but Lions fullback Louie Roberts got there first to cut out the danger.
Brilliant interplay between Stevens and Gav Rodden almost produced another Swinton try but the Town defence scrambled well.
Town hit back seven minutes from the break when a long pass to the left found Eccleston and he crossed in the corner with Jake Carter converting from the touchline.
Carter then sent Town in with a slender lead at the break when he kicked a penalty for backchat.
The Cumbrians went further ahead five minutes into the second half when the Lions were on the attack deep in the Town half and a ball went to ground. Zarrin Galea collected it and raced ninety metres to score. Louie Roberts and Frank Sergent were both in hot pursuit, but they couldn’t catch him, and Carter kicked the simple conversion for an eight-point lead.
Town then had a purple patch, spending time on the Lions’ line, but the home defence was excellent.
And all that pressure amounted to nothing as it was Swinton who struck on 62 minutes when Stevens offloaded to Will Roberts and he crossed under the posts and added the conversion to put his side two points behind.
Workington were penalised in their own half for a high shot on Sergent and the penalty resulted in more pressure on the line, producing a try for Jordan Paga, who sold a nice dummy on the left to cross, and Will Roberts again converted to give Swinton the lead.
During the celebrations there was a bout of handbags behind the line, and the incident was placed on report.
It set up a grandstand finish with the clock ticking down, but it was made safe for the Lions when Baker ran onto a short pass to crash in by the posts and Will Roberts again converted, with no time left for the restart as the hooter sounded.
GAMESTAR: Kenny Baker scored two important tries at important times to help secure the win.
GAMEBREAKER: Baker’s try in the dying seconds finally settled the game.
MATCHFACTS
LIONS
1 Louie Roberts
25 Frank Sergent
2 Ellis Anderson
22 Aaron Lynch
30 Ethan Fitzgerald
6 Jack Stevens
31 Will Roberts
33 Alfie Sinclair
9 George Roby
20 Jamie Reddecliff
11 Gav Rodden
35 Jake Davies
13 Kenny Baker
Subs (all used)
10 Bobby Shingler
15 Jordan Brown
8 Adam Sidlow
14 Jordan Paga
Tries: Baker (13, 79), W Roberts (62), Paga (66)
Goals: W Roberts 4/4
TOWN
15 Cole Walker-Taylor
4 Andy Djeukessi
1 Zarrin Galea
3 Rio Corkill
20 Dave Eccleston
28 Jake Carter
7 Dom Wear
8 Ross Ainley
21 Callum Phillips
10 Stevie Scholey
11 Cooper Howlett
23 Sam Grice
13 Jack Stephenson
Subs (all used)
24 Lucas Castle
9 Jamie Doran
25 Callum Farrer
16 Guy Graham
Tries: Eccleston (37), Galea (45)
Goals: Carter 3/3
SCORING SEQUENCE: 6-0, 6-6, 6-8; 6-14, 12-14, 18-14, 24-14
Rugby Leaguer & League Express Men of the Match
Lions: Kenny Baker; Town: Dom Wear
Penalty count: 5-2
Half-time: 6-8
Referee: Adam Williams
Attendance: 949