MIDLANDS HURRICANES 110 ABERAVON FIGHTING IRISH 0
IAN GOLDEN, Avery Fields, Sunday

MIDLANDS eased through to the third round of the Challenge Cup with a club-record win to give them an away tie at Cougars.

Aberavon must be given credit for reaching this stage of the competition, the first Welsh community side to do so in eleven years, after a 20-hour round trip to Northern Ireland in the first round, where they beat Banbridge Broncos.

Despite a number of positional changes, 13 of those players turned out a fortnight ago, with two players being brought in to make up the numbers, Wales Dragonhearts international Llewellyn Hawkes from Bridgend Blue Bulls and Kit Heales from Swansea University.

In addition, for most of their players, it was their second Cup game in two days, having played in Welsh Rugby Union competitions on Saturday.

Midlands made a number of changes from last week’s defeat to Newcastle, with Welsh international Owen Restall, Isaac Shaw, Oliver Roberts and Louis Beattie all making their club debuts.

It took just 55 seconds for Midlands to take the lead. Cian Tyrer kicked on the final tackle of the first set of the game and Lewis Else picked up to score. Sully Medforth converted.

From kick-off came try number two with Ryan Johnson running home. Todd Horner soon followed suit, then Restall, with two further goals putting the score onto 22-0.

It took until the eleventh minute for any Aberavon player to have a feel of the ball, this after Midlands were pulled back for a forward pass. Aberavon completed the set, then Medforth ran over 50 metres for try number five but couldn’t land the conversion.

Restall and Johnson both added their second tries, followed by a great individual effort from Lewis Else. Cian Tyrer and Medforth added goals.

The half-century came on 33 minutes with Jon-Luke Kirby’s try coming after a penalty.

Aberavon had one chance to score before half-time, getting less than ten metres from the Midlands line after winning a penalty, but a dropped ball put a stop to that effort.

Toby Warren’s try in the final minute of the first half, coupled by Medforth’s goal, put the half-time score on to 58-0.

It took five second-half minutes for Midlands to add to their score, Oliver Roberts diving in the corner with Medforth’s kick hitting the post.

Five minutes later, Warren scored his second of the day with Medforth converting. That put the score onto 68-0, now a record winning margin for the Hurricanes.

But there was still more to come. Restall ran 40 metres on 56 minutes to secure his hat-trick, with Medforth improving.

An Aiden Roden try and Medforth goal made it 80-0 on the hour before Restall sprinted in for his fourth of the day with Medforth converting.

Midlands continued, showing no mercy as they equalled the Crusaders’ score from earlier in the day. Johnson sealed his hat-trick with ten minutes to go. Restall soon added his fifth. Johnson’s fourth brought up the century before Medforth completed proceedings with his second try and 14th goal.

GAMESTAR: Owen Restall starred for the Hurricanes with five tries.

GAMEBREAKER: The kick-off separated the two clubs, as Aberavon were never in the contest.

MATCHFACTS

HURRICANES
1 Todd Horner
22 Cian Tyrer
3 Ryan Johnson
4 Ross Oakes
18 Owen Restall
19 Sully Medforth
7 Lewis Else
28 Isaac Shaw
14 Brandon Moore
15 Elliott Morris
20 Toby Warren
12 Oliver Roberts
17 Kieran Moran
Subs (all used)
8 Jon Luke Kirby
9 Aiden Roden
10 Tyler Dickinson
27 Louis Beattie
18th man (used)
21 Zach Jebson

Tries: Else (1), Johnson (5, 20, 70, 74), Horner (7), Restall (9, 16, 56, 64, 74), Medforth (13, 80), Moore (23), Else (26), Kirby (33), Warren (39, 50), Roberts (45), Roden (60)
Goals: Medforth 14/19, Tyrer 1/1

FIGHTING IRISH
1 Isaac Morgan
2 Ieuan Allen
3 Owen Thomas
4 Iestyn Williams-Jones
5 Lewis Francis
6 Llewellyn Hawkes
7 Sean Waldeck
8 Ben Jackson
23 Owen Evans
10 Dylan Mclachlan
11 Rhys Evans
12 Lloyd Allen
13 Morgan Hines
Subs (all used)
14 Sam Gardner
15 Jack Davies
16 Rhodri Roberts
9 Kit Heales

SCORING SEQUENCE: 6-0, 10-0, 16-0, 22-0, 26-0, 30-0, 36-0, 42-0, 48-0, 52-0, 58-0; 62-0, 68-0, 74-0, 80-0, 86-0, 92-0, 98-0, 104-0, 110-0

Rugby Leaguer & League Express Men of the Match
Hurricanes: Owen Restall; Fighting Irish: Dylan McLachlan

Penalty count: 10-4
Half-time: 58-0
Referee: Matty Clayton
Attendance: 200