Workington Zebras U15s secured a historic victory over the weekend.
The Zebras went up against Penrith in the Cumbria Under-15s County Cup on Friday at Davidson Park and for the first time in 20 years, they took home the trophy, defeating Penrith 12-5.
Coaches Lee Wordsworth and Phil Jones led the team to victory and said it was an emotional win that was hard earned.
Lee said: “It was quite a scrappy, hard fought game. We’re used to scoring really fancy nice tries, whereas it was more of a bit of a battle.
“The defence from both teams ourselves and Penrith were very disciplined and committed, the amount of effort that went into it was unbelievable from both sides.”
At half time the match was 0-0 making for a tense game before the Zebras took a two try lead with one conversion.
A late try from Penrith led to even more tension, but the Zebras held out for the win.
Lee said: “The match at half time was 0-0, so it was a very tough and very close game. Our first try was scored by Kori Bateman, that was some good passing, hauling it off into space and then Kori finished it off.
“Our second try the referee gave us a penalty in there so about 10 metres off the line.
“But quick thinking by Joseph Wordsworth, he took the quick tap and passed the ball to Kai Speight who powered over the line and then Joseph added the conversion.
“Penrith then scored their try, which was some good forward play.”
Lee also credited the hundreds of spectators that turned up to show their support on the day.
He said: “We have got a very special group where its very family oriented. A lot of the lads had little sisters, brothers, cousins and grandparents there and that’s something we’ve tried to build and I think that atmosphere has got us to where we are.
“A lot of their friends came too and got themselves through from Workington to Keswick on the bus and there must have been nearly 100 of them.
“They pushed the lads on and even from the rest of the club there was people from the senior men’s team and the women’s team were there and teachers from Workington Academy too.”
Lee added that he was proud of the team’s effort and praised the commitment they have shown towards training.
He said: “I’m obviously very very proud of the lads, I think we’ve really pushed them and it’s been eight or nine months of hard work.
“We’ve trained in all sorts of weathers and we have put them through it, but the commitment and effort they have shown us is really rewarding.
“Last year we won just over half of our games whereas this year we’ve only lost one game this season. So the improvement from them in 12 months has been unreal.
“Quite often its the bigger teams that win it, so it was nice for a West Cumbrian side to win.
“Some of the lads have been coming since they were seven years old and have been together for eight years, so it was very special.
“We’ve got quite a large squad of 26 and we could only select 22 play for the final, but every single of them has contributed to getting us there.
“All of them played in at least one game in the county cup game, so it was a full squad effort.
“I’d also like to thank our sponsors because without them we wouldn’t even have the gear we train and play with.”
