SWINTON LIONS coach Paul Wood paid tribute to his old community club Ince Rose Bridge after they gave his side a scare in the Challenge Cup.
The Championship team trailed 26-18 after an hour of the second-round clash, before fighting back to eventually win 44-26 and seal a home tie with Wakefield.
Wood said: “I’m not happy with that performance, not taking anything away from Ince. I thought they were brilliant. They outmuscled us in the middle, outenthused us. They came out of the gates rapid in the first half.
“I went over to them at full-time and told them that. I’ve got so much respect for them as a team and I hope they do well for the rest of the season.
“Credit to Ince, it was a big game for them and they stood up to the occasion. We didn’t deserve to win. We were awful.
“I said to the lads ‘that’s nowhere near good enough’, and if you think that’s an acceptable standard, we’re absolutely kidding ourselves.
“We’ve got to be really honest and brutal in our meeting on Tuesday otherwise it’s going to be a really tough year.
“Ince have been brilliant with us with their hospitality, they’ve made us feel welcome. And they put on a game for us, the team has been outstanding and done them proud. It was a great crowd and I’m sure everybody enjoyed the game, even if I didn’t.
“It’s brilliant to come back here and play against Ince, I’d say I was a bit nervous at one point.
“I’ve got good memories at this club and of everybody who is involved. They do a lot for the community which probably goes unnoticed, and it shows how big Rugby League is in the community with the number of spectators that came out to watch the game.
“It was a good occasion, and the big thing for us is we’re in the next round.”