Following last week’s cancellation, the new-look Workington Zebras finally got their league campaign underway with six tries in an impressive 37-20 win against Penrith 2nds.
On a sweltering afternoon at The Ellis this was the Zebras’ first opening day victory since 2010.
With seven players making their debuts, the Zebras were determined to make a bright start and they did just that after only four minutes when a nifty surge down the left flank ended with Joe Harden ploughing through Penrith’s defence to go in the corner for an unconverted try.
Workington increased their lead after ten minutes with a smoothly struck penalty from John McCrickerd, but then only two minutes later were reduced to 14 men when Chris Boyd saw yellow after committing an above the waist tackle – the new rule brought in by the RFU earlier this year.
The penalty conceded by Boyd was duly executed by Penrith to open their account and reduce the arrears, however they couldn’t take further advantage of their extra man as Workington made light work of being one man down.
Their dominance paid off on 17 minutes when a flowing movement caught the visitors napping and it was Rhys Burr who raced clear for a well-taken try that was easily converted by McCrickerd.
Penrith managed to regroup and began to make a few inroads into Zebras territory before their perseverance was rewarded on 25 minutes when they took advantage of slack defence by Workington to touch down for a try that was then converted.
Clearly hurt by this breach, the Zebras were hungry to atone quickly and wasted no time in doing so as on 28 minutes, when the evergreen Rob Scott left the Penrith defence snatching thin air as he breezed over the whitewash.
McCrickerd was unlucky to see his conversion attempt smack against the bar, but he made amends for this five minutes from the break after David Wordsworth rolled back the years to deliver a masterful turn of pace to go over for Zebras’ fourth try of the afternoon and guarantee a bonus point.
The opening 15 minutes of the second half were all Workington as they increased their lead with Scott on 46 minutes claiming his second try after a well-drilled scrum and then six minutes later new boy Devlin Clarke marked his debut by finishing another smart passing movement.
Then the Zebras seemed to relax and were punished by Penrith as they stretched their hosts to breaking point with classy running and well crafted passing to grab two tries in seven minutes, both of which went unconverted.
However, Workington found their composure again and they dominated the last 15 minutes, going very close to increasing their lead on four separate occasions, but a combination of desperate Penrith tackling and clumsy knock-ons kept the score to 37 – 20 at full time.
It was a confidence-boosting victory, especially against opposition that beat them home and away last season.
Workington’s debutants all gave a fine account of themselves, especially try scorers Harden, Burr and Clarke blending well with seasoned campaigners like Wordsworth, Scott, the Todhunters, the McCrickerds and Scott Campbell. It has the ingredients of a promising season for the Zebras.
Penrith deserve full credit for testing Workington at times and making a game of it, whereas other teams would have just given up and taken the blow-out (as witnessed several times in seasons gone by).
It’s back to The Ellis this Saturday as Workington entertain Creighton and will be looking to build on this excellent start to the new season.
