On a cold, blustery day at the Ellis Sports Ground, Workington Zebras served up what was one of their best performances for a while, beating Millom 40-12.
With the wind blowing the usual way towards the town, it was the visitors who were to feel the benefit of it in the first half.
Sure enough, with the elements in their favour, Millom scored the first points of the game with a converted try.
This didn’t dishearten a Zebras side, keen to finish the year the way they started it, with a bonus point win at the Ellis.
Sure enough, it wasn’t long before the Zebras were not only back in touch with Millom, but overtook them, with tries from the returning Jack Todhunter and team captain Scott Faulkner, one of which was converted by scrum half Brandon Walker.
It meant that against the strong elements, the Zebras went in at half time 12-7 in front.
Turning round after the break, the Zebras were in no mood to let the advantage of the wind slip, and played the game in the correct areas of the pitch, which resulted in the Zebras’ young county Under-18s player, Owen Ackerley going over for his first senior try. Brandon Walker slotted the conversion.
Not long after that, Walker got in on the action himself, with a nice dummy and dart from the base of a ruck, converting his own try to stretch the lead to 26-7.
The Zebras continued to put the pressure on and next to crash over was Tom Smith from very close range. Walker again adding the extras.
Many team’s heads would have gone down by this point, playing against a confident Zebras side and into the wind, but Millom never gave in all day, and were rewarded for their persistence with a try of their own to reduce the home lead to 33-12.
Any signs of a comeback though were swiftly stamped out when the Zebras made their way back up the other end, for captain Scott Faulkner to cross again for his second try of the afternoon.
A Walker conversion, making it five out of six on the day for him, was the final scoring action of the game, and the Zebras recorded a 40-12 bonus point victory, to climb the table to 9th.
The result brings to an end the year 2025 for the Zebras, 12 months that have had some promising moments. They will be keen to continue the momentum in the new year and look to keep climbing the table.
