Betfred League 1 – 6 April 2019
London Skolars 34 Workington Town 32
After ten encounters with the Cumbrian side at New River over the last fifteen years, Skolars finally beat Workington at home for the first time. The win came as they turned around a half-time deficit of sixteen points.
The visitors took an early lead when Jonathan Walsh scored wide out on the right after a break by Gordon Maudling and went further ahead when Stevie Scholey took an inside pass from Jamie Doran to score under the posts.
Skolars responded with Richard Wilkinson breaking through the defence for Joe Brown to touchdown on the right and narrowed the gap to two points when Mike Bishay followed up a James Barran grubber kick to score under the posts.
Town responded with Perry Singleton drawing the defence before slipping the ball out for Scott Rooke to score in the left corner. They were in a good position with their next attack, but Neil Thorman intercepted on his 20 metre line, getting past the halfway line before offloading to Iliess Macani and it took a good tackle by Caine Barnes to stop the Skolars’ captain. Spotting the defence still trying to get back, Skolars kicked to the left wing on the second tackle, but Jerome Yates couldn’t quite get to the ball.
Workington extended their lead with two tries in quick succession. FirstKarl Olstrum swivelled to ground the ball before he was tackled. Then Singleton found a gap on the left to score an easy try. The first penalty of the game went to Skolars in the 39thminute, a second going Town’s way as the hooter sounded. Forber’s kick from halfway hit the posts, but Skolars were alert to the risk, but were 10-26 down at the break.
Skolars made a good start to the second half, with Wilkinson continuing a Thorman break before offloading to Macani to score on the right. Wilkinson then set up the next try, kicking to the right for Omari Caro to touchdown. Macani’s second try levelled the score, with Thorman’s conversion putting Skolars ahead.
They had to defend after conceding a drop-out, but they held out and extended their lead when another Barran kick into the in-goal area saw Wilkinson touchdown inches short of the dead-ball line. Workingtom launched a very late comeback when Oliver Wilkes put in a short pass for FuiFui MoiMoi to power over in the last minute. Carl Forber took a quick drop kick conversion, but Skolars were still two points ahead and the final hooter sounded before the restart could take place.
Skolars
1 Joe Brown
20 Jerome Yates
3 Sam Grant
4 Omari Caro
2 Iliess Macani
6 James Barran
14 Richard Wilkinson
10 Matt Ross
9 Neil Thorman
8 Michael Sykes
11 Jordan Williams
12 Lamont Bryan
7 Mike Bishay
Subs (all used)
15 Isaac Ah Kuoi-Atmore
10 Malikhi Lloyd-Jones
13 Liam Scott
18 Judd Greenhalgh
Tries: Brown (14), Bishay (23), Macani (42,57), Caro (45), Wilkinson (72)
Goals: Thorman 5/6
Town
2 Tyllar Mellor
20 Jonathan Walsh
19 Caine Barnes
4 Perry Singleton
16 Scott Rooke
6 Jamie Doran
7 Carl Forber
8 Oliver Wilkes
5 Reiss Butterworth
10 Stevie Scholey
12 Gordon Maudling
13 Karl Olstrum
26 Sam Hopkins
Subs (all used)
14 Andrew Dawson
25 FuiFui MoiMoi
17 Colton Roche
23 Dominic Smallwood
Tries: Walsh (6), Scholey (11), Rooke (26), Olsrum (32), Singleton (36), MoiMoi (80)
Goals: Forber 4/7
Penalty count: 4-7
Half-time: 1-26
Referee: Neil Bennett
SCORING SEQUENCE: 0-6, 0-12, 4-12, 10-12, 10-16, 10-22, 10-26; 16-26, 22-26, 28-26, 34-26, 34-32
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