By Ian Golden
Midlands Hurricanes eased through to the Third Round of the Betfred Challenge Cup with a club record win to give them an away tie at Keighley Cougars.
Aberavon must be given credit for reaching this stage of the competition, being the first Welsh community side to do so in 11 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, being 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. For Louis this would also be his professional debut (having only played in a friendly for the Hurricanes during the 2025 season before suffering an injury).
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 Medford 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 11th minute for any Aberavon player to have a feel of the ball, this after Midlands were penalised for a forward pass. Aberavon completed the set, then Medforth ran over 50 metres for try number five but couldn’t land the extras.
Restall and Johnson both added their second tries, followed by a great individual effort from Lewis Else. Cian Tyrer and Medford 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 things. 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 margin of win 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 North Wales Crusaders’ score from earlier in the day against Bedford Tigers. Johnson sealed his hat-trick with 10 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.
Man of the Match:
Owen Restall (Sponsored by Gary Lancaster Property Maintenance Ltd)
Tries:
Restall (5), Johnson (4), Medforth (2), Warren (2), Else (2), Kirby, Moore, Horner, Roberts and Roden
Conversions:
Medforth (14/19), Tyrer (1/1)
Attendance:
200
