A magnificent year ended on a flat note for Workington Zebra Finches as they went down 27-19 to Lancaster Lionesses in an entertaining match at The Ellis, writes John Hastings.
This was Workington’s first defeat of the season and it means that whoever wins League 2 North will do so without going unbeaten.
While not taking anything away from the Lionesses’ victory, it should be noted that the Finches were missing several key players due to injury or unavailability and had to shuffle the team accordingly, with some playing out of position.
It was Workington who made the first attack from kick off, but Lancaster used the wind to their advantage as they launched promising attacks that put the Finches under pressure and they hit the jackpot after only 10 minutes when flanker Brooke Harrington shrugged off a late challenge to thrust over for the game’s opening try, which went unconverted.
The Finches were clearly stung by this and wasted no time in getting back into the game with their own threatening attacks before dominating Lionesses territory.
But try as they might, they were blocked at every turn by Lancaster’s red wall and on the occasions that the wall was breached, desperate tackling thwarted Megan Donald, Chloe Pape and captain Juliet Porter from the tryline.
Then on 32 minutes, Lancaster – having absorbed all that intensive pressure – delivered a masterful sucker punch as stand-off Eudora Aladesoun grabbed the ball deep in her own half before delivering Olympic speed that left several Finches floundering before scoring under the posts for a magnificent try – converted this time round by Laura Rigby.
For the first time this season, Workington were in the unaccustomed role of playing catch-up and badly needed a try before half time – they got their wish with four minutes left as Porter tapped and charged through to go over and set up an easy conversion for Donald that reduced the arrears to just five points.
It was the Lionesses who looked the most lively when the second half kicked off and barely two minutes had passed when another mesmerising solo run and finish from Aladesoun increased their lead.
However, Workington were determined to graft their way back into the match and their dominance paid off on the hour when a successful line out saw a fierce drive from the doughty Codey Johnston before Danielle Easdon took over and battled her way through to score, followed by a second conversion by Donald.
With the score now 17-14 in Lancaster’s favour, it was now anybody’s game as both sides showed efficiency and determination – but in the event it was the Lionesses who wrapped up victory & a bonus point with two clinical tries in 10 minutes.
First, Aladesoun completed a superb hat-trick following another scintillating sprint and then Laura Rigby exploited tiredness in the Finches defence to coast home under the posts for the Lionesses’ fifth try and her second conversion.
The last word went to Workington in the closing seconds when Porter rounded out a neat pass and move stack to claim her second try, but Donald was very unlucky to see her conversion go just wide.
Despite the defeat, there were still positives to take – Beth Sunderland was a driving force at Number 8, while Danielle Easdon & Rachael Wood did very well deputising at centre in lieu of the absent Elsa Whelan and Lauren Coulson.
Workington go into the festive break third in League 2 North – only two points behind new leaders Skipton Lions, but crucially with a game in hand.
It has been another magnificent year for the Finches, having won another RFU Community Plate & going close to that elusive championship, as well as having several players called up by Cumbria for the County Championship.
