Whitehaven nearly, so very nearly, pulled of an unexpected comeback against Swinton Lions.
The Betfred League One game started slowly, saw Haven go ahead with the debut try from Jack Newbegin, fall behind to three Swinton tries, claw two of those back with two tries from their evergreen centre Chris Taylor, and then almost score with the last play of the game with the clock at zero, and then having what looked like a clear penalty denied in a controversial decision by referee Tara Jones who ignored Whitehaven protests that Jay Weatherill had been tackled before he went in to collect the ball just metres out from the try line.
The 14-18 loss to Swinton was Whitehaven’s first home defeat of the season at the Ortus Rec.
After the match, head coach Anthony Murray reflected on an opportunity missed and the inconsistencies in Whitehaven’s performance throughout the game, but also expressed his frustration with some of the decisions made by officials in the match.
The first 15 minutes of play were end to end with some massive tackles and mistakes by both sides.
Whitehaven began to look the better side, and a lovely dummy from Jack Newbegin saw the former Millom and England Community Lion player spot a gap in the Lion’s line and he needed no further invitation and charged in for his first try for Whitehaven, and in the professional game, although Weatherill missed the conversion.
The Lions had an immediate response from Jack Stevens who was well placed after another Whitehaven knock on and went over with a try, with Reece Briers converting for a 4-6 lead.
Haven now looked ill-disciplined, and the Lions look the better side as the hosts gave away too many penalties.
Swinton took full advantage of being gifted possession, repeatedly marching up the pitch, and a penalty for a high tackle set up Ethan Fitzgerald who scored an unconverted try for 4-10.
Just before the close of the first 40 minutes an offside decision allowed Swinton the opportunity to take the two, and Briers slotted home the penalty goal give the visitors a 4-12 lead at the break
Swinton started the second half the better, pinning Whitehaven deep in their own half. When a Ethan Bickerdicke kick was charged down, it was Stevens who reacted the quickest and grabbed the ball and ran 30 metres to go in for his second try which Briers converted for 4-18 to the Lions.
And then the pendulum swung. Veteran centre Taylor ran in two tries, both set up with excellent passing from Whitehaven, both down the right wing, and with Weatherill converting Taylor’s second try for a scoreline of 14-18.
Passions were now riding high, and Whitehaven lost Weatherill to the sin bin for attempting to delay a Swinton restart, but Haven held on. In the closing 10 minutes and back to full strength they piled on the pressure and repeatedly battered the Lion’s try line.
A long looping pass to the right wing was just too high for a leaping Mitchell Todd whose fingers brushed the ball as it went into touch, Brad Brennan was held up on the line, and Daniel Spencer-Tonks was brought down just a few centimetres short of the try line.
With referee Jones in the eye of the storm, the last five minutes were eventful.
Play came to halt with a dust-up under the Lion’s sticks after the Swinton’s Jamie Reddecliffe was pushed back behind his own try line, only for the Lions to be awarded a penalty for being held up on the field of play.
Tempers boiled over, and players on both sides were hauled away, but crucially for Whitehaven the clock was still ticking and valuable time was lost.
The referee consulted her touch judges, but took no further action over the fracas save to confirm the the penalty decision, and the Lions had possession and advanced down the field of play as the clock kept ticking.
Everyone knew there were just a couple of minutes of play remaining, if that, and as Haven took possession deep in their own half the klaxon went.
Haven had possession, advanced,, kept advancing and a Max Anderson-Moore break put the hosts well over the half way line.
Taylor kicked the ball forwards and Weatherill sprinted towards the ball pursued by chasing Lions.
With no one in front of him, the full back kicked the spinning ball forwards, kicked again, and looked set to pounce on the ball as he headed towards the Swinton try line when it appeared that Louie Roberts had made contact with Weatherill just as he went to scoop up the ball (and almost certainly score).
The tackle knocked Weatherill over, the ball spun away, and the final whistle blew.
It was a game that Whitehaven could have won. It was a game that Whitehaven probably should have won, but they were the architects of their own destruction for too much of the game, and despite some sequences of really good play, errors and mistakes, poor decision making, errors and a high penalty count ultimately told, although undoubtedly the major talking point after the match will the match officials’ decisions in the final five minutes.
After the match Murray said: “The errors cost us at Dewsbury in a game we could have won, and the same again this afternoon.”
Lamenting the amount of possession that Whitehaven gifted away in their previous loss to the Dewsbury Rams and again in this match against Swinton, he said: “It’s not a lack of effort or commitment or how we play the ball, it’s concentration and the inconsistencies which are costing us massively.
“When you are tired after all the defending, that’s when the errors come, and it’s the same errors every week. We need to work hard in training. improve on our errors and put these inconsistencies right.”
About the last five minutes, Murray said he wasn’t going to make excuses but said that he felt there were inconsistencies in the application of the rules across the game and on the Weatherill decision, he said: “There’s a hand on Jay which stops him gathering the ball so potentially there that could have been a different decision and maybe should have been a different decision, but that’s life and that’s sport.”
Murray also confirmed that Whitehaven were hoping to sign a new half back to join the squad at Ortus Rec this week, with rumours pointing towards Lions half back Dan Abram, who has previously payed for Whitehaven as well as Oldham and Barrow Raiders, with Murray saying the home fans would be really appreciative of the new signing saying he has been here before, was a crowd favourite and a match winner.
Elsewhere in League One, the Keighley Cougars resurgence continued with a 22-16 win over the Dewsbury Rams, Workington Town lost out 56-22 away at North Wales Crusaders, and Midlands Hurricanes scraped a narrow 22-20 win over the Rochdale Hornets.
Workington face Goole Vikings away next weekend (Saturday July 11, 3pm).
- Whitehaven: Jay Weatherill, Mitchell Todd, Chris Taylor, Joe Hartley, Max Anderson-Moore, Jack Newbegin, Ethan Bickerdike, Jake Pearce, Ellison Holgate, Jordan Thomson, Connor Holiday, Rio McQuistan, Jack Kellett. Interchanges (all used): Brad Brennan, Luke Collins, Mason Lewthwaite, Daniel Spencer-Tonks.
- Swinton Lions: Louie Roberts, Harry Highham, Ellis Anderson, Adam Jones, Ethan Fitzgerald, Reece Briers, Jack Stevens, Jamie Reddecliff, Jonathan Openshaw, Adam Sidlow, Aaron Lynch, Finley Beardsworth, Kenny Baker. Interchanges (all used0: George Roby, Jordan Brown, Bobby Shingler, Trent Kelly-Duffy.
