MIDLANDS HURRICANES 24 WHITEHAVEN 30
IAN GOLDEN, Avery Fields, Saturday

MIDLANDS were close to clinching what seemed an unlikely draw at home to Whitehaven, but the Cumbrians held on for just their second away victory of the season.

With seven minutes remaining, Whitehaven were home and hosed. They were 30-10 up and had a one-player advantage for that time after Mikey Wood was sent to the bin for a high tackle.

But two tries from Midlands winger Aidan McGowan, both in the corner, and one from Zach Jebson, converted by Sully Medforth, put Midlands back to within six points with 70 seconds remaining.

The home side had one set to level the scores, but mishandled on the halfway line, the story of the day for Midlands, and the Whitehaven players celebrated.

It was hard to believe that the Hurricanes outscored Whitehaven on tries, five to four, as the away side deserved their victory.

The kicking of Ciaran Walker was crucial. He converted all seven of his kicks, three of them penalties, whilst his opposite number Medforth could only manage two goals from five attempts.

Midlands, who had just come off nine consecutive away matches, started the game well, but for much of the encounter looked like they were still finding their feet at home again.

Winning a drop-out on two minutes, Whitehaven kicked short, hoping to regain possession, but it backfired as Midlands were given a good chance in a scoring position. However, Whitehaven’s defence held firm and even survived a six-again.

Whitehaven turned defence into attack and took the lead. Jordan Burns and Ethan Bickerdike linked up to create the try, giving Ellison Holgate the space to run 40 metres and ground under the sticks.

Walker converted, then added his first penalty less than ten minutes later to put the score up to 8-0.

Midlands continued to push for a try back, but Whitehaven’s defence was consistently up to the mark.

Their attacking also paid off, and their second try came from Walker, scoring his sixth try of the season as he darted through a couple of missed tackles to ground just left of the sticks, converting his own try to put the score onto 14-0.

Walker kept the score ticking over. With twelve minutes to go in the first half, he kicked a 40/20, then immediately his side won a penalty, which he successfully struck to put the score up to 16-0.

Again, when gifted a chance, and a penalty near to goal, Midlands couldn’t score, being forced into an error, with the handling errors continuing for much of the first half, denying them at least two more chances.

But opportunities kept coming and eventually, with 90 seconds remaining in the first half, Matty Chrimes dived over in the corner to put Midlands on the board. Medforth couldn’t land the kick as the half-time hooter went with Whitehaven 16-4 up.

Walker was over again, inside three second-half minutes, taking advantage of a loose ball on the Midlands ten-metre line to score an easy try. He converted again and the score went up to 22-4.

Midlands hit back on 48 minutes. After winning two six-agains, a goal-line drop-out and a penalty, the pressure on Whitehaven finally told, as Chrimes again scored in the corner, but this time Medforth landed the conversion.

Whitehaven extended their lead ten minutes later after Bickerdike dived on Walker’s grubber to score. Walker added the goal again, and his side now had what should have been a comfortable three-try lead.

When Wood was sinbinned for a high tackle right in front of his own goal, and Walker kicked his third penalty of the match, it seemed comfortable, and no-one expected the Midlands comeback that in the end wasn’t quite enough.

GAMESTAR: Ciaran Walker was outstanding throughout and kicked his side to victory.

GAMEBREAKER: Only when there was a dropped ball on the halfway line with 30 seconds go, did Whitehaven know they’d won.

MATCHFACTS

HURRICANES
1 Todd Horner
2 Matty Chrimes
3 Ryan Johnson
21 Zach Jebson
23 Aidan McGowan
19 Sully Medforth
7 Lewis Else
8 Jon Luke Kirby
14 Brandon Moore
10 Tyler Dickinson
11 Tom Wilkinson
20 Toby Warren
13 Mikey Wood
Subs (all used)
9 Aiden Roden
16 Zeus Silk
28 Isaac Shaw
30 James Woodburn-Hall

Tries: Chrimes (39, 48), McGowan (75, 77), Jebson (79)
Goals: Medforth 2/5
Sin bin: Wood (73) – high tackle

WHITEHAVEN
1 Jordan Burns
19 Dave Eccleston
2 Mitchell Todd
4 Ethan Bickerdike
39 Seth Woodend
6 Ciaran Walker
7 Jack Newbegin
24 Lewis Brown
9 Ellison Holgate
16 Brad Brennan
11 Connor Holliday
23 Ben Pearce
13 Jack Kellett
Subs (all used)
12 Rio McQuistan
15 Ellis Nixon
20 Marc Shackley
35 Jackson Smith

Tries: Holgate (6), Walker (24, 43), Bickerdike (58)
Goals: Walker 7/7

SCORING SEQUENCE: 0-6, 0-8, 0-14, 0-16, 4-16; 4-22, 10-22, 10-28, 10-30, 14-30, 18-30, 24-30

Rugby Leaguer & League Express Men of the Match
Hurricanes: Matty Chrimes; Whitehaven: Ciaran Walker

Penalty count: 4-7
Half-time: 4-16
Referee: Aaryn Belafonte
Attendance: 267