Whitehaven recovered from a dismal opening quarter to come back and beat Sheffield Eagles 32-20 at the LEL Arena.
The Cumbrians had been 14-0 down in just over 20 minutes but came back to close the gap by half time to two points – and bossed the second half to complete a Championship double over the Eagles.
Within five minutes of the restart Jonty Gorley’s men had taken the lead and it was one they were in no mood to concede.
Sheffield had made a flying start with a try from their opening attack as Anthony Thackeray saw enough of a gap to get through it and touchdown with Cory Aston unable to convert.
The second try came on 11 minutes when Jack Hansen burrowed over after a smart off-load from Mike Wood and Aston converted.
Sheffield had been the sharper side in the opening quarter and they scored again on 21 minutes with a super cut-out pass from Quentin Laulu-Togaga’e for Matty Dawson Jones to go over. The kick was missed.
Haven needed to score quickly to get back into the contest and they got it on 26 minutes when they worked the ball wide for Curtis Teare to go over and Josh Rourke converted.
Oscar Doran almost got over in the opposite corner as Haven threatened again but they did reduce the arrears two minutes from the break.
Dave Eccleston made a great run down the wing and he had support from Rourke to take an inside pass and score. Rourke converted for a 12-14 score-line at half-time.
Five minutes into the second-half Whitehaven took the lead with their third try. Dion Aiye, who was proving a real threat to the Eagles, powered through tackles again and Eccleston was on hand to receive the pass and score but Rourke couldn’t convert.
It had been a great recovery by the hosts and it got better on 52 minutes when Oscar Doran got over in the corner but Rourke failed to convert.
On 57 minutes Whitehaven were in again. This time on last tackle Daniel Spencer-Tonks simply barged past the last defender to score. Rourke converted for a 26-14 lead.
It was Sheffield’s turn to need a score quickly and they got it. Thackeray took the ball to the line before putting Bayley Liu in for the score which Aston converted.
Into the last quarter with just six points between the two sides the game was on a knife edge with first Sheffield and then Haven looking as though they would get the next score.
It was Whitehaven who got it on 73 minutes when Ryan King barged over on last tackle and Rourke’s conversion sealed a famous come-back and victory for the west Cumbrians.
