Midlands Hurricanes 30-24 Workington Town
Betfred Championship Round Twenty-Three
By Tom Kiernan-Wilson
After another convincing win last Sunday against a depleted and fatigued Keighley Cougars, Mens Head Coach Mark Dunning and his men would face a tough and stubborn Workington Town outfit who were keen to end their season in good form and get some revenge after the Canes won 24-20 at Derwent Park in the reverse fixture.
As with the Cougars game the Canes started strongly, and it only took four minutes for us to break the deadlock as Lewis Else charged through a gap to reach out and score (4-0). Sully Medforth would be on hand to add the extras from out wide (6-0), but would pick up a niggle in the process.
Just four minutes later Todd Horner would extend our lead further, with some good hands from right to left putting the fullback in position to score down the left edge after cutting through (10-0). Lewis Else – taking over the kicking from Medforth – missed the difficult conversion.
Fifteen minutes in Town would strike back. After the Canes coughed up possession early in the set, Town would apply pressure and a chip kick would bounce kindly into the hands of Evan Lawther who wrestled out of a contest with Aidan McGowan to lean over and dot the ball down (10-4). Jake Carter had no issues cutting the deficit down to four points (10-6).
Just over twenty minutes into the first half the Canes would regain an eight-point lead as Ryan Johnson would catch a high bomb from Lewis Else and offload it mid-fall to Ross Oakes who quickly passed to Chrimes for a dive into the left corner (14-6). Matty was unable to convert his own try from out wide.
It only took a few minutes for Town to narrow the deficit despite the Canes looking increasingly dominant. A strong set from the Canes line took us within metres of the Town line before a high kick would be contested by McGowan, Luis Roberts and Town’s Jamie Doran. Doran would win the challenge before weaving and racing away to score a 90m try (14-10). Carter would convert (14-12).
After 10 minutes of back and forth action, the Canes would nudge themselves ahead just before halftime. After forcing a goal-line drop out the ball would find itself in the hands of Tom Wilkinson who would weave and bounce his way to stretch over and get the ball down (18-12). Matty Chrimes would convert on the hooter (20-12).
The second half would see neither side score for almost 25 minutes, but a fatigued Canes side would be under the pump from a Workington Town side growing in confidence. Two goal-line drop outs and numerous breaks would put the Canes under constant pressure but the dam would initially hold out.
Eventually – however – the dam would break as Jamie Doran took a short ball in and span over to score just left of the sticks (20-16). Carter would then cut the deficit back down to two (20-18). Seven minutes later Dom Wear would break through a gap to canter under the posts and put Town in the lead for the first time with 11 minutes to go (20-22). Carter would again convert (20-24).
Despite the Canes looking gassed throughout the second half, our lads refused to give up. After Lewis Else earned a penalty for a high tackle, a short ball in the following set would put Toby Warren in position to charge and squirm towards the line before stretching out to put the ball down on the line right of the posts in the 75th minute (24-24). Chrimes was unable to nudge the Canes in front to the shock of the home faithful.
With just two minutes to go, the Canes would regain the lead as a good set would allow Else to pass left to Horner, who in turn would feed Oakes to set up Chrimes, with the winger leaping like a salmon in the left-hand corner to seal the win and send the home crowd into raptures (28-24). Not satisfied with just that, the winger – who had just equalled the record for most tries scored in a season by a Canes player – nailed a sublime conversion from out wide with just over a minute of the game to go (30-24).
Sunday’s win would guarantee the Canes a place in the Betfred Championship Play-offs at the first time of asking with three games to spare. A guaranteed home play-off game will be secured if the Canes earn a single point from their remaining games at Doncaster (A), Newcastle (A) and North Wales (H).
Man of the Match:
Aiden Roden (Sponsored by Enjoy Travel)
Tries:
Else, Horner, Chrimes (2), Wilkinson and Warren
Cons:
Medforth (1/1), Else (0/1) and Chrimes (2/4)
