Whitehaven regained the Ike Southward Memorial Trophy when they beat local rivals Workington Town 22-6 at the LEL Arena.
The hosts scored 16 unanswered points in the second-half to register the win after an even first half when the sides turned round all square at 6-6.
Both sides used plenty of substitutions with a total of 43 players getting a taste of the action, including a good number of new arrivals to both clubs.
There was a nice touch early in the game when referee Brad Milligan stopped play at seven minutes to allow the players to join the fans in applause to pay tribute to young Hensingham player Logan Holgate who died suddenly, aged just 18, during the week.
There was very little between the two sides in the first half and it was Town who broke the deadlock on 23 minutes with a clever finish by Cieran Walker. He took the ball in, threw a dummy and then darted over for the try which Carl Forber converted.
Some outstanding on-line defence by Town, with Joe Kirkup earning applause for a big hit on Jamie Doran, kept the Derwent Park side in front.
It took until the 38th minute for Whitehaven to get back on terms. New Aussie signing Lachlan Lanskey was brought down just short and then Alex Biashop put in a kick which skipper Karl Dixon got on the end of. New full-back Sam Freeman converted.
The longer the game went it was Whitehaven who looked the most likely winners and so it proved.
They got in front on 52 minutes with an acrobatic finish by Curtis Teare after great work by Dixon to get the ball away. Freeman converted.
Six minutes later they increased the lead when Marcus O’Brien, who has joined Haven from Town, sent in Bishop for the third try which went unconverted.
There was heavy pressure from Haven in the closing stages and after a series of goal-line drop-outs Lanskey went in for a try to celebrate a promising debut. Lewis Fairhurst, one of the trialists who joined Haven for a month, put over the conversion.
News from @hensingham_arl that today’s bucket collection in memory of Logan Holgate raised over £3500.
— Whitehaven Rugby League (@OfficialHavenRl) January 15, 2023
A huge thank you to all in attendance who donated and helped raised a fantastic amount of money!
West Cumbria came together today ????????????????⚫️#WeareHaven pic.twitter.com/CDfuHmYyHz
