Workington Zebra Finches maintained their push for the RFU North 2 League title with a comeback win at Stockton Rockets, writes John Hastings.
Trailing 17-12 they pulled off a stunning recovery to win 29-17.
What made this win even more impressive was that Workington did it with a threadbare squad due to injuries to several key players.
There were four changes to the squad from last week’s win at Durham City, including Juliet Porter switching from centre to scrum half with Sophie Weir returning to fill in as new centre partner to Caitlin Jenkinson.
The game was switched from Stockton’s ground to the all-weather pitch at Billingham due to the weather, but Workington were able to get accustomed to the surface before kick off and it took only seven minutes for the Finches to strike Good work by Rachael Wood and Nicole Stewart stretched Stockton before Chloe Pape applied the final blow by racing into the corner for an unconverted try.
Stockton were clearly railed by this and proceeded to launch a plethora of attacks deep into Finches territory that tested their concentration.
The Rockets finally broke through to plunder two tries in seven minutes – the second one converted – to sprint into a 12 – 5 lead with 15 minutes pf the half left.
One of the hallmarks of Workington’s season has been not to panic after falling behind but maintaining their belief.
On 33 minutes this was rewarded when another well crafted attack culminated in Porter thrusting herself over the tryline before Stewart’s conversion levelled at 12 – 12.
Neither team was in the mood to close out the first half with ‘up the jumper’ rugby and with two minutes left it seemed as if Stockton would have the last word when another pass and move play flatfooted the Finches, who were duly punished with an unconverted try.
But Workington’s belief neither wavered nor collapsed and bang on the stroke of half-time sucker punched Stockton by taking the lead.
Megan Donald found Stewart, who in turn returned the favour to Donald, and she moved up a gear to slalom through empty space to race under the posts for her 12th try of the season.
Stewart added the easiest of conversions to give the Finches a 19 – 17 lead at half time.
The second half began brightly for Workington and they came agonisingly close to increasing their lead in the opening ten minutes with two cheeky drop goal attempts by Stewart, both of which hit a post.
But the Finches refused to give up and with Stewart and Porter carving up the opposition with dangerous attacks it was only a matter of time before the lead was increased.
On 58 minutes both players were deeply involved in the attack that was rounded off by Jenkinson, who bulldozed her way through to touch down for a well-deserved try which secured a bonus point.
Another unconverted try followed three minutes later when Porter added her second of the afternoon when she skipped through the bedraggled Rockets defence.
Workington had other chances as the industrious Porter missed out on a hat-trick when she was tackled just short of the tryline.
But eventually they seemed content to protect their lead and settled into containing Stockton’s attacking surges.
Any threat of a Stockton try was quickly and uncompromisingly nullified by the Finches, with flanker Beth Adams – outstanding throughout with her drives and carries – in the thick of it with hard-hitting tackles.
Stockton’s anxiety turned into frustration and finally implosion as arguments between players were clearly audible as they had no answer to Workington’s efficiency.
The final whistle brought an end to a fantastic performance that was reminiscent of that May Day at Twickenham – then as now, the Finches came from behind and then closed out the game by frustrating their opponents with consolidation.
Special mention goes to Juliet Porter, who was a revelation switched to scrum half, always driving in hard and making excellent passes.
Beth Adams bossed it in the back row – especially with her tackling and driving – allied with excellent support from the lively Rachael Wood and captain Charlotte Cammack, who once again called the shots verbally and delivered them physically.
The results sees Workington two points behind unbeaten league leaders Keswick Falcons, but having played a game more, making that clash at Davidson Park on St Patrick’s Day very intriguing if it is still close then.
In the meantime, Workington are back at The Ellis this Sunday for their seventh game in as many weeks as they take on Upper Eden Eagles (Kick Off 2pm).
