Workington Zebra Finches brushed off last week’s Junior Cup defeat at Keswick as they defied the wet and windy weather to make it two wins out of two, writes John Hastings.
They went top of RFU North 2 following a tough, but hard-earned 15-12 victory under the lights at The Ellis against Penrith Panthers.
Before kick-off, both teams lined up for a brilliantly observed minute’s silence in memory of former Finches player Nicola Wilson, who died in October 2018 and the match was dedicated to her.
Workington looked the livelier from kick-off and their early dominance hit the jackpot when a feisty scrum saw Danielle Easdon squirt through to score her first try on home soil, which went unconverted.
Penrith were jolted into action and from the restart were determined to assert themselves, creating attacking surges into Finches territory.
Their persistence was rewarded on 16 minutes when another attack was finished off by Ghana Walker, who darted in to touch down before Caitlin Wood put them ahead with her conversion.
For the first time in the league this season, the Finches were trailing – but only until 26 minutes when after winning a line out, the ball eventually found Nicole Stewart, who galloped clear of the flat-footed Panthers defence to go into the corner for her second try of the season.
She was must unlucky to see her conversion smack against the bar and bounce away.
Workington delivered their third try six minutes later, when Penrith were shredded by a gorgeous pass-and-move attack which was gleefully finished off in the corner by Beth Sunderland. Once again, the woodwork thwarted Stewart of a conversion.
The lead could have been extended by half time but Rachael Wood and Megan Donald were both tackled just shy of the whitewash and Stewart fell painfully short with her penalty attempt.
However, they were able to weather a few surges from the Penrith cavalry to close out the first half and go into the break 15-7 ahead.
Just as they did so at kick off, the Finches made a bright start to the second half with more fine advances into Panthers territory, but were pegged back by the visitors’ no-nonsense rearguard.
By around the 50-minute mark, the match began to drift as both sides became bogged down in midfield with doughty, efficient rucking and mauling allied to feisty scrummaging, with nobody coming remotely close to adding points.
However, with 10 minutes to go, Penrith managed to step up a gear and proceeded to pin back Workington in their own half with one eye on snatching an unlikely victory.
The Finches dug in deeper and deeper with every attack – every minute passed meant victory, but they were finally undone deep into stoppage time when Rachel Wood exploited tired marking to zip over for what was by this time an academic try for Penrith.
Following the missed conversion, full time was called, with the relief and joy on the Finches was clearly visible as a second league win and top of the table was secured.
Every Workington player delivered – namely Beth Adams, who once again made her presence felt as she delivered perpetual bite and solid steel, while Stephanie Ratcliffe sparkled on her return to scrum-half and captain Charlotte Cammack was again in the thick of the action.
But it was the evergreen Kirby Neesham who truly rolled back the years in her first game in Finches colours since 2019 as she covered every blade of grass like a new girl.
On the subject of debutants, Beth Clarke and Becca Small both made admirable first impressions off the bench and they will gain more confidence if the Finches’ winning streak continues in the league and forthcoming Junior Plate.
Penrith deserve full respect for pushing Workington all the way for the win – Amber Sullivan shone against her former club, while Chloe Capstick, Di Hetherington and Beth Hook also gave the Finches food for thought with their resolute and polished displays. On this performance, the Panthers are going to be awkward for other teams during the season.
Ironically, both sides meet again at The Ellis on October 29 in Round 1 of the Junior Plate as Workington begin the defence of the title won at Twickenham last May – but before that, the Finches travel to Darlington hoping to make it a hat-trick of league victories.
