CUMBRIA 70 NIGERIA 6
PETER WILSON, Northern Competitions Stadium, Barrow, Sunday
EXPERIENCE told as Cumbria enjoyed a stroll in the autumn sun, but the 13-try drubbing didn’t dampen the spirits of the visiting Nigeria side.
They had to wait until the 70th minute for their only touchdown, but it was greeted by the biggest cheer of the afternoon from the home crowd.
Any temptation to simply reel off a list of the Cumbria scorers would be a disservice to Nigeria, whose enthusiasm never wavered.
And when Muizz Mustapha eventually broke through, all thoughts of dropped passes and missed tackles faded in the joy of mass congratulations.
The game was only five minutes old when the Nigeria defence faced the full strength of the host county’s attacking power.
Luke Broadbent exposed the frailties of the visitors, finishing off the first serious attack with the opening try. Jake Carter kicked the first of his nine goals.
Five minutes later, Ellis Archer jigged his way through to round off a move created by Shane Toal and the scoring spree continued throughout the first half.
Alex Onyeahasi pulled the strings in an effort to get Nigeria on the move, but far too often they broke down through some poor handling errors – inexperience again.
Cumbria, on the other hand, were enjoying the freedom of the pitch and a burst of three tries in ten minutes confirmed the gap between the sides.
Scores from Ellison Holgate, Toal and Archer – the starter of many of the home side’s most productive moves – took the game out of Nigeria’s reach as early as the 23rd minute.
There was a brief hold-up to the scoring and it was the best of many handling moves involving several players which eventually broke through the Nigeria defence four minutes before the break, Curtis Teare finishing off the move.
Two minutes later Luke Cresswell bagged the first of his hat-trick of tries, his reward for backing up a move which had Nigeria struggling to block the gaps. Carter’s fifth conversion made it 38-0.
The break brought only a brief respite from the onslaught and two tries in the first five minutes of the second half from Carter and Teare helped take the gap towards the half-century.
Connor Holliday pouched a four-pointer, then Cresswell completed his treble with two tries in quick succession.
The match was entering its final throes when Nigeria, who had been parked close to the Cumbria line without success, finally broke through and were able to celebrate Mustapha’s touchdown, goaled by Rio Corkill.
But Broadbent had the final say, scoring his second try six minutes before the end.
GAMESTAR: Scrum-half Ellis Archer had several rivals but edged it by being the starting point of many Cumbria attacks.
GAMEBREAKER: It’s hard to pick out a moment from a match which was one-way from the early stages.
MATCHFACTS
CUMBRIA
1 Luke Cresswell (Barrow Raiders)
5 Luke Broadbent (Barrow Raiders)
3 Jordan Burns (Whitehaven)
4 Curtis Teare (Barrow Raiders)
2 Shane Toal (Barrow Raiders)
6 Jake Carter (Workington Town)
22 Ellis Archer (Workington Town)
8 Harvie Hill (Wigan Warriors)
9 Ellison Holgate (Whitehaven)
10 Brad Singleton (Castleford Tigers)
11 Connor Holliday (Whitehaven)
12 Ellis Gillam (Toulouse Olympique)
13 Finn McMillan (Barrow Raiders)
Subs (all used)
14 Max Anderson-Moore (Whitehaven)
19 Tom Walker (Barrow Raiders)
18 Stevie Scholey (Workington)
17 Jordan Thomson (Whitehaven)
15 Jake Pearce (Whitehaven)
Tries: Broadbent (5, 74), Archer (10, 23), Holgate (13), Toal (17), Teare (36, 45), Cresswell (38, 63, 65), Carter (42), Holliday (52)
Goals: Carter 9/13
NIGERIA
1 Caleb Adetona
2 Jibola Oki
3 Femi Akintoye
4 Peace Aghogho Ejiro
5 Abdullah Balogun
6 Rio Corkill
7 Alex Onyeahasi
14 Dan Okoro
9 Jubril Olajide
10 Leo Aliyu
11 Michael Ogunwole
8 Ayanfe Kinfeoshioke
12 Muizz Mustapha
Subs (all used)
13 Uzoma Anyiam-Osigwe
16 David Ugwo
17 Chris Mark-Hansen
18 Joshua Olugbodi
19 Dele Agorioge
Tries: Mustapha (70)
Goals: Corkill 1/1
SCORING SEQUENCE: 6-0, 10-0, 16-0, 22-0, 26-0, 32-0, 38-0; 44-0, 48-0, 54-0, 60-0, 66-0, 66-6, 70-6
Rugby Leaguer & League Express Men of the Match
Cumbria: Ellis Archer; Nigeria: Muizz Mustapha
Penalty count: 3-5
Half-time: 38-0
Referee: Adam Williams
Attendance: 1,475