Castleford Tigers A Wheelchair 34 Swinton Lions Wheelchair 16
Alan Dixon at Brigshaw High School
It was a historic day at the Brigshaw High School as the Swinton Lions Wheelchair team took to the pitch for their first ever game.
The Lions got off to a bad start when Castleford scored on their first possession. They scored again in the 4th minute to give them a 10-0 lead. Swinton’s nerves settled and they began to get more possession of the ball. A Dan Robinson kick in the 16th minute was chased by Martin Dougan which forced the Tigers to concede a drop out. The drop out went out on the full which gave the Lions a penalty in front of the posts. The ball was quickly moved out to Dan Robinson who scored Swinton’s first ever try in the corner. He converted to make it 10-6.
The Lions continued to put pressure on the Tigers line. From a penalty in the 24th minute, the ball was moved out to Martin Dougan but he was tackled just short of the line. They levelled the score in the 30th minute. The ball was moved out to Jamie Edmondson-Jones who put out a short pass for Dan Robinson to score in the corner. He was unable to convert his own try. The Lions received another penalty in the 34th minute. The ball was moved out to Andy Unwin but he was tackled short of the line. The ball was then moved across to the other side of the field for Martin Dougan to score in the corner. Duncan Clarke added the extras to give the Lions their first ever lead 16-10.
The Tigers opened the scoring when Ben Atkinson-Bolton scored in the corner in the 42nd minute. They were unable to convert. They scored again on their next attack. Again they were unable to convert. They scored again straight from the restart when they broke down the wing to score under the posts. This time they added the conversion. They scored again in the 50th minute. The Lions kicked through on the last tackle. The Tigers collected the ball and raced away to score under the posts. They added the conversion to make it 30-16.
Defences were on top for the final 20 minutes. The Tigers scored their final try in the 67th minute. The Lions were penalised for not tagging up. Castleford then attacked down the middle before passing it out to Oscar Westerman-Freer who scored in the corner. He was unable to convert his own try. The Lions almost scored in the last minute bur Martin Dougan was tackled just short of the line.
The Lions played really well and can be proud with their performance after being together for such a short period of time.
Swinton Lions Wheelchair : Andy Unwin, Duncan Clarke, Charlie Gordon, Dan Robinson, Donna Robinson. Subs : Martin Dougan, Joel Dyer, Jamie Edmondson-Jones
Tries : Dan Robinson (17,30), Dougan (34)
Goals : Dan Robinson 1, Clarke 1
Pens : 3-6 Half Time : 10-16 Referees : Kim Abel & Paul Ward
