WHITEHAVEN 14
SWINTON LIONS 18
IAN RIGG at Ortus Rec
The Lions sent Whitehaven to their first home league defeat of the season in a pulsating end to end game which wasn’t decided until the final minute. Haven were playing towards the open end in the first half and forced a goal line drop out on their second attack but lost the ball in only the second tackle from the kick. Jonny Openshaw then put the Lions within ten metres of the line in the nineth minute, but the home defence held well. Jack Newbegin put Haven ahead on sixteen minutes when he exploited a gap on the left to touch down and Jay Weatherill was off target with the conversion. The Lions then had some good pressure on the Haven line and forced a goal line drop out. Pressure was put on the line from the kick, but a good chance went when the ball moved right but sailed past Ethan Fitzgerald with the corner open and went into touch. The first penalty of the game came on twenty-seven minutes, and it was inside the Haven thirty. The option to play the ball paid off when Jack Stevens found a very small gap between several defenders to score to the left of the posts and Reece Briers converted. Four minutes later Louie Roberts made a great break through the middle and passed to the supporting Fitzgerald who went over to score in the corner, but Briers could not convert. Harry Higham then had to leave the field for a HIA but then passed it and returned to the field. The Lions went further ahead on the very last play of the half when Kenny Baker was hit by a high tackle and Briers added the penalty from in front of the posts.
A huge error from Haven at the restart of the second half when referee Tara Jones spotted they were offside from the kick, and this put the Lions on the attack. Stevens increased the Lions lead on forty-three minutes when Jordan Brown charged down a Haven kick just inside their half and the Lions half back swept up the ball to race away and score by the posts with Briers converting. Haven hit back four minutes later when Connor Holliday broke the defence on the right to send Chris Taylor in at the corner, but Wetherill missed the conversion. Taylor then scored a second on fifty-seven minutes to set up a tense finish with Wetherill converting this one to put them four points behind. Weatherill then made an error on sixty-two minutes kicking the ball away and was shown a yellow card. More pressure then from the Lions as they tried to play against the twelve men, but some panic play failed to bring any results. Haven were trying hard and Stevens pulled off a stunning tackle to stop a try with five minutes left, but in the dying moments of the game it looked like Weatherill might snatch victory for his side when he raced fifty metres towards the posts but was caught just short of the line by Roberts and the official judged he lost the ball when he hit the ground.
LIONS – Roberts, Higham, Anderson, Jones, Fitzgerald, Briers, Stevens, Reddecliff, Openshaw, Sidlow, A.Lynch, Beardsworth, Baker. SUBS – Roby, Brown, Shingler, Trent Kelly-Duffy
Half-time: 4-12 Penalties: 2-8 Referee: Tara Jones
