Workington Town never really recovered from a bad start in Birmingham against the Midlands Hurricanes.
They conceded two tries in the first nine minutes and were 20-6 down at half-time and that proved decisive in the final reckoning.
Anthony Murray’s men fought back strongly in the second-half to outscore their hosts 16-14 but it wasn’t enough to turn things round as they lost 34-22.
The opening try came on four minutes when a penalty helped the Hurricanes establish good field position and Jon-Luke Kirby went in from close range. Jake Sweeting converted.
Five minutes later the home side were in again when Tom Wilkinson made ground before sending Harry Higham in for a try on his debut. Sweeting again landed the conversion.
Town needed a response and they got it on 15 minutes. Capitalising on a penalty they moved the ball wide and Joe Hartley charged over for the try which Carl Forber converted.
But it was the Midlands side who scored next on 26 minutes. Callum McLelland took the ball on last tackle, put in a little grubber which he collected before giving Sweeting the ball to dot down.
Sweeting converted and then added a penalty four minutes before half-time.
Workington were up against it but got a great start to the second-half when they worked an opening down the right hand edge and Zarrin Galea dived in for an unconverted try.
Unfortunately the Hurricanes were straight back on the scoresheet. Some click handling saw the ball arrive in the hands of Jason Bass who managed to spin out of two tackles and touch down. Sweeting converted.
When the home side were awarded a penalty on 50 minutes Sweeting took an easy opportunity to add two more points to the lead.
But Town were next to score when fast hands saw Jack Stephenson supply the final pass to Hartley who forced his way over for the try which Forber converted from the touchline.
When Matty Henson burrowed over for Town on 65 minutes and Forber converted there were only six points in it, but on 68 minutes the hosts scored the clinching try.
Smart handling along the line eventually saw Matty Chrimes sliding over in the corner and Sweeting landed the touchline conversion.
It had been a brave second-half performance from Town, actually edging it 16-14. but the damage had been done in the first-half.
