Wath Brow Hornets had to settle for a point after a 12-12 draw at Wigan St Jude’s in the National League’s Premier Division.
Coach Ian Rooney’s immediate thought was it had been a point lost after his side had established a 12-0 lead by half-time.
But on reflection, analysing the way the home side responded in the second half, he felt it was a good point on the road as standards in the top flight are very high.
He has a number of young players finding their feet in the Premier Division and to be in the top six at this stage of the season has been encouraging.
Hornets had scored two similar tries in the first half from Owen McCartney and Callum Creasey, which were both converted by Sam Curwen.
St Jude’s came out fired up for the second half and by the 68th minute had levelled with tries from Jacob Dugdale and Connor Parkinson, both converted by Danny Fallon.
Wath Brow, who had been under sustained pressure, came back and created a couple of chances which they were unable to take.
However they did well in the closing seconds when an attempted field goal from Parkinson was successfully charged down.
You can hear below what coach Ian Rooney thought of the performance:
In Division One another win on the road by Kells kept the Whitehaven side at the head of affairs, but only joint leaders now on points difference with Dewsbury Celtic who beat Oulton Raiders 32-2.
Kells were 28-12 winners at Shaw Cross Sharks and trail Celtic narrowly, plus 148 to their plus 150.
Peter Smith’s side had been trailing 12-6 in the closing stages of the first half but a strong finish saw Casey Chambers go in for a try.
Harley Wilson converted and added a penalty, and he had also converted an earlier try from Aaron Burns.
The second half belonged to Kells, however, as they pulled away by scoring 14 unanswered points – tries by Clarke Chambers, Tyce Walmsley and Jacob Hodgson, one converted by Wilson.
Coach Peter Smith gives his thoughts below:
Egremont Rangers moved up a place and are fourth, just behind Dewsbury Moor Maroons on points differential, after a very good 50-14 win against Wigan St Patrick’s.
Rangers hadn’t been at their best in narrowly beating Oldham St Anne’s in their last game and coach Danny Barker asked for a response – which he certainly got.
It had been tight for the first half an hour with the sides level at 10-10 but the home side pulled away to lead 20-10 by half-time.
They continued to call the shots in the second half and had reached the half-century mark before the visitors scored a third try.
In the end they finished with nine tries, seven of which were converted by Joe Lewis.
Crossing the St Pat’s whitewash were Lewis (2), Conor Williams (2), Jack Pae, Jack Conway, Jordan Baird, Jayden Tyson and Aaron Turnbull.
Coach Danny Barker gives his reflection on the game below:
