Hull Kingston Rovers   4        Manchester Swinton Lionesses   58

Alan Dixon at Sewell Group Craven Park.

Manchester Swinton Lionesses defence of the Challenge Shield continued with an emphatic win over Hull Kingston Rovers in the semi-final.  More milestones were reached with Emma Welsford scoring her 50th point for the club and Maddie Higson getting her 150th point for the club. They will now face Warrington Wolves in the final.

The Lionesses suffered an early setback when Eve Ashcoft was injured in the warmup. Leila D’Symonds replaced her at fullback. Hull KR recovered their own kick off and immediately put the Lionesses line under pressure. Superb defence by the Lionesses kept them at bay. Good runs by Chloe Newbigging and Leila D’Symonds allowed Tamika Bull room to weave her way through the Rovers defence and cross the line. Rover’s tacklers held her up over the line. From the restart, the ball was quickly moved across the field to Chloe Newbigging who cut back inside to score. The conversion was missed.  A mistake by the Lionesses allowed Rovers to go back on the attack. Their kick into the in-goal was taken on the full By Chloe Newbigging. Her twenty-metre restart sent the Lionesses back on the attack. Runs by Tamika Bull, Chloe Newbigging and Sammi Simpson got the Lionesses close to the Rovers line. Abbie Singleton’s kick was taken by a Rovers player. The Lionesses were soon back on the attack. Runs by Grace Pritchard and Eleanor Atherton allowed Tamika Bull to put a kick into the in-goal area. Her chase prevented Rovers from getting the ball into the field of play. Rovers knocked on as they recovered the drop out. From the scrum, Leila D’Symonds went on a run but was tackled near the line. Tamika Bull was tackled short before the ball was moved into the middle where Eleanor Atherton was also tackled short. Quick hands by Tamika Bull and Maddie Higson sent Sammi Simpson in to score. Again, the conversion was missed.

Rovers were now putting more pressure on the Lionesses line. Good tackles by Sammi Simpson, Grace Pritchard, Maddie Higson and Chloe Newbigging prevented them from scoring. A Grace Pritchard run set up the next Lionesses attack. Eleanor Atherton broke through the Rovers defence before the ball was moved out to Morgan Pearson who sent Amber Harmon away to score. The conversion attempt was missed. The Lionesses now cut loose. From the restart, Grace Arrowsmith passed the ball to Grace Pritchard who went on a 70-metre run to score under the posts. Maddie Higson converted. They scored again from the next kick off. Eleanor Atherton drove the ball up before Emma Welsford broke through the defence to go on a 55-metre run to score under the posts. This was her 50th point for the club. Maddie Higson converted. From the next restart, the ball was driven up to halfway before Kerrie Evans broke through the defence to run 40 metres before being tackled. Morgan Pearson went on a run from dummy half. She side stepped Sofia Franklin before diving over to score. Maddie Higson added the extras. Rovers went back on the attack after recovering the restart. Hannah Byrom was tackled short of the Lionesses line. A long pass out wide by Jenna Greening could not be taken by Eve Conn with the line wide open.

The Lionesses recovered their own kick off at the start of the second half. Chloe Newbigging was tackled short of the line. The ball was moved across to the middle were Yasmin Parton Sotomayor crashed over under the posts to score. Maddie Higson converted. The Lionesses were applying more and more pressure on the Rovers line. Rovers knocked on coming out of defence. From the scrum, Maddie Higson sent Tamika Bull on a run. The ball was moved out to Chloe Newbigging who was tackled short of the line. The ball was moved back to Tamika Bull whose kick and chase was not dealt with by the Rovers defence. As she dived on the loose ball, her arm touched the dead ball line and the try was disallowed. Rovers went down the other end and were now applying pressure on the Lionesses line. Jenna Greening sent a pass out wide to Tilly Lee to score in the corner. Demi Thomas was unable to add the conversion. Hull KR continued to attack the line, but they were unable to break through the Lionesses defence. Grace Arrowsmith broke out of defence and went on a run up to halfway. Leila D’Symonds then broke through three tackles to go on a 50-metre run to score under the posts. Maddie Higson converted to bring up her 150th point for the club. The restart went to Leila D’Symonds who went on a 70-metre run outpacing the Rovers defence to score under the posts. Maddie Higson added the extras.

Hull KR went back on the attack, but the Lionesses forced them into knocking the ball on. From the scrum, Madeline Neale drove the ball up. Amber Harmon took the ball up next before moving it out to Jasmine Wilson whose quick hands with Kerrie Evans sent Sydney Alderman-Smith in at the corner. The conversion was missed.  The Rovers final attack of the game ended in a hand over in the Lionesses half. Grace Arrowsmith went on a run to launch the next attack. Abbie Singleton darted out from dummy half before sending Tamika Bull on a 65-metre run to score under the posts. Maddie Higson converted.

Teams:

Hull Kingston Rovers: Eve Conn, Ruby Barnett, Bethany Rushmer, Tilly Lee, Lydia Conn, Ella How, Jenna Greening, Jade Smalley, Ebony Oaten-Powdrill, Abbie Patterson, Narelle Hall, Demi Thomas, Haylie Hields. Subs: Hannah Byrom, Abi Brown, Sofia Franklin.

Try: Lee (50)

Manchester Swinton Lionesses: Leila D’Symonds, Chloe Newbigging, Kerrie Evans, Grace Arrowsmith, Grace Pritchard, Tamika Bull, Maddie Higson, Madeline Neale, Abbie Singleton, Eleanor Atherton, Sammi Simpson, Amber Harmon, Georgia Briggs. Subs: Jasmine Wilson, Morgan Pearson, Emma Welsford, Yasmin Parton Sotomayor, Sydney Alderman-Smith, Georgia Lake, Amelia Newton.

Tries: Newbigging (4), Simpson (17), Harmon (28), Pritchard (31), Welsford (34), Pearson (37), Parton Sotomayor (41), D’Symonds (54,57), Alderman-Smith (68), Bull (79)

Goals: Higson 7

Pens: 4-0                  Half Time: 0-30