Swinton Lionesses 40 Widnes Vikings 14
Alan Dixon at Hindley ARLFC
Swinton Lionesses progressed through to the semi-final of the Challenge Shield with a hard-fought victory over Widnes Vikings. They will now play Hull KR at home next week.
The Lionesses forced Widnes to drop out from the kick off. Good runs by Darcey Price, Sammi Simpson and Tina Millan set up the opportunity for Ellie Thirkell to run across the face of the Widnes defence to score out wide. Eve Ashcroft hit the post with the conversion attempt. The Lionesses conceded a penalty in the 7th minute. Widnes went on the attack with Ellie Reid going on a 15-metre run to set up a score for Freya Turner in the corner. Aimee Wood missed the conversion. Widnes knocked on at the restart which allowed the Lionesses to move the downfield. Tina Millan crashed over to score. Again, Eve Ashcroft hit the post with the conversion attempt. Widnes knocked on again in the 17th minute. From the scrum, Tina Millan was tackled just short of the line. This allowed Shannon Stephens to dive over from acting half to score. Eve Ashcroft converted to give the Lionesses a 14-4 lead.
Widnes went back on the attack in the 24th minute but the kick through was recovered by Chloe Newbigging. This allowed Sammi Simpson to go on a run. The ball went to Tiegan Shaw who got the ball out Cailey Miller who went on a 25-metre run before being tackled. A quick play the ball allowed the Lionesses to move the ball across the field and a good pass by Beth Hayes put Cailey Miller on a run to the line but, she was tackled just short. Widnes knocked on again in the 30th minute. From the scrum, Eve Ashcroft and Tina Millan went on runs which created an opening for Sammi Simpson to score. This time Eve Ashcroft hit the crossbar with the conversion attempt. Widnes again lost the ball in the 38th minute. Tiegan Shaw was tackled just short of the line. This allowed Ellie Jelves to dive over from acting half to score. Eve Ashcroft converted to give the Lionesses a 24-4 half time lead.
The Lionesses were forced to drop out from the second half kickoff. Widnes put pressure on the Swinton line. Ellie Reid went over but was deemed to be held up. The Lionesses were making mistakes which allowed Widnes to put pressure on the Swinton line. Widnes scored again in the 51st minute. From a scrum, the ball was moved out to Freya Turner who scored in the corner. The conversion attempt from Hollie Jones went under the bar. Widnes thought they scored again from the restart when the ball was moved out to Naoimh Gill-Ward who raced away to score under the posts. The referee pulled them back for a forward pass.
Swinton were now putting pressure on the Widnes line. Tina Millan managed to slip the ball in the tackle to Cailey Miller to score in the 65th minute. Beth Hayes missed the conversion. Six minutes later they scored again. Widnes were penalised for a high tackle on Darcey Price. This allowed Shannon Stephens to go on a 45-metre run to set up a try for Jasmine Wilson. Beth Hayes converted to give the Lionesses a 34-8 lead. Widnes were penalised for obstruction in the 75th minute. This allowed Darcey Price to go on a run to get the Lionesses into the Widnes half. A short pass by Cat Davies sent Shannon Stephens over to score under the posts. Beth Hayes converted. The Lionesses were then penalised for obstruction in the final minute. Hannah Whitehead was held up over the line. The ball was move out to Freya Turner to score. Aimee Wood converted.
Player of the match: Shannon Stephens
Teams
Swinton Lionesses: Eve Ashcroft, Cailey Miller, Sammi Simpson, Libby Clarke, Chloe Newbigging, Ellie Thirkell, Beth Hayes, Darcey Price, Emma Dwyer, Cat Davies, Jasmine Wilson, Tina Millan, Amelia Newton. Subs: Ellie Jelves, Shannon Stephens, Tiegan Shaw, Natasha Ryder, Holly McDougall, Amelia Morton, Chloe Lyons.
Tries: Thirkell (2), Millan (10), Stephens (17, 75), Simpson (30), Jelves (38), Miller (65), Wilson (71)
Goals: Ashcroft 2, Hayes 2
Widnes Vikings: Hannah Quirk, Freya Turner, Evie Price-Horrocks, Becky Webb, Naoimh Gill-Ward, Hollie Jones, Aimee Wood, Ellie Reid, Sammy Traynor, Hannah Whitehead, Chloe Richardson, Millie Richardson, Jenny Moss. Subs: Talitha Hannon, Simone Hart, Jen Williams, Carraghan Hannon, Hannah Goulbourne, Vicky Grace.
Tries: Turner (7, 51, 79)
Goal: Wood
Pens: 9-4 Half Time: 24-4 Referee: Liam Breheny Attendance: 225
