A second half rampage which saw Whitehaven touch down four converted tries in 20 minutes put the result of this Betfred League One Round Nine game firmly beyond doubt.
Scott Taylor’s Vikings will be disappointed with the margin of victory of 42-24, after a first half which saw the visitors give as good as they got and show some intermittent quality, putting the home side under pressure despite Haven taking an early lead at the Ortus Rec.
That lead came from an excellent first try from Man of the Match Ellison Holgate who set up a right wing sprint from Chris Taylor who offloaded back to Holgate who had the speed to outpace the chasing Goole defenders and dive in under the sticks with Jay Weatherill adding the first of seven goals.
Whitehaven extended that lead with a Weatherill penalty for a high tackle on Haven’s Warrington loanee Tom McKinney for an 8-0 lead.
On seventeen minutes the Vikings were back in the game when a Jack Potter kick spiralled out of the sun to be collected in the air by Neil Tchamambe who crossed the whitewash untouched, with Reece Dean converting.
With Whitehaven down to 12 men after Daniel Spencer-Tonks, having only just come onto the field of play, was sin binned by referee Alan Billington on 28 minutes for running into a tackle using his forearm, the Vikings immediately took advantage and finished their attack when Manoa Wacokecoke stretched out an arm to ground the ball on the line, with Dean adding the extras for a 8-12 Goole lead.
With Brad Brennan denied after bouncing of the post and being held up on the try line, Whitehaven hit back with a try from the ever busy Cameron Brown six minutes later as the Australian collected his own ricocheting grubber kick to dive in under the sticks for his fifth try of the season, giving Weatherfill an easy conversion and Whitehaven the 14-12 lead.
Connor Holliday came close, with another attempt held up on the line, and then a minute before the half time hooter Ethan Bickerdike went over for Whitehaven’s third try with a charge up the left wing, flipping over onto his back to ground the ball over his head by the corner flag, and although Weatherill missed the tricky conversion (his only miss in eight), the home side now had an unconvincing 18-12 lead.
Two minutes after the restart, and set up by an powerful run from Mitchell Todd, Spencer-Tonks made up for his earlier sin binning as he barged his way through the Goole defence to touch down for a converted try.
Eight minutes later Holgate went over for his second following an excellent a cross field run from Taylor and a good break by Holiday, and the Weatherill conversion gave Haven a now more comfortable 30-12 lead.
With Holgate continuing to cause the Goole defence problems, four minutes later and it was another Whitehaven try as an unstoppable Brennan crashed through the Vikings defence from five metres out to power the ball down buried under a sea of white shirts.
With Todd denied a touch down after an excellent run by a desperate Tchamambe ankle tap just short of the try line, four minutes after Brannan’s try, Rio McQuistan scored his first try in Whitehaven colours as the home side took advantage of a Goole goal-line drop out, burrowing through the Vikings defence to ground the ball with a huge smile on his face and delighted celebrations from his team mates and the 667 watching on. Two more Weatherill conversions gave Whitehaven a dominant 40-12 lead with 20 minutes left to play.
After the battering, the Vikings regrouped, and despite a try saving tackle from Todd, Goole did end the match the better with two tries in the last five minutes both from Thomas Minns, both set up by Dean kicks.
With two conversions from Dean the Vikings now a more respectable final scoreline of 42-24, but it was a clear and convincing win for Anthony Murray’s Whitehaven.
With Workington Town hammering the Keighley Cougars 46-6 away at Cougar Park, and Midlands Hurricanes easing past Rochdale Hornets 22-10, Town now top the League One table with Whitehaven in fifth place – the two Cumbrian clubs separated by just two points.
WHITEHAVEN: Jay Weatherill, Mitchell Todd, Chris Taylor, Ethan Bickerdike, Max Anderson-Moore, Cameron Brown, Kieran Tyrer, Tom McKinney, Ellison Holgate, Karl Garner, Connor Holliday, Rio McQuistan, Jack Kellett. Interchanges (all used): Luke Collins, Ellis Nixon, Daniel Spencer-Tonks, Brad Brennan.
GOOLE VIKINGS: Josh Guzdek, Tom Halliday, Thomas Minns, Manoa Wacokecoke, Neil Tchamambe, Jack Potter, Reece Dean, Jack Coventry, Jeylan Hodgson, Jack Aldous, Brett Ferres, Zach Jebson, Tyler Craig. Interchanges (all used): Joe Phillips, Bailey Dawson, Ryan Wright, Dean Roberts.
