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London Broncos travelled from Plough Lane in Wimbledon to Derwent Park in Workington in a bid to get their season on track and move out of the bottom two in the Betfred Championship against bottom placed club Workington Town, who were themselves seeking to get their own season underway with a first win.

The hosts' coach Chris Thorman refused to underplay the importance of the game for the side promoted from League 1 last year, but insisted the main thing he was looking for was consistency and performance against the team just above them with a record of one win and one draw.

The Broncos travelled with interim coach Mike Eccles in charge after parting company with predecessor Jermaine Coleman, but without new signing Brock Pelligra, who helped Carcassone win the French Elite Grand Final in May.

Town kicked off the Jubilee weekend programme but couldn't contain the Broncos in their half and kept in their own 20m for their own first set.

The game settled down after early mistakes by both teams, and the visitors had the best of the opening exchanges - until they lost the ball in the tackle when trying to work it out from their own 10m.

Gifted a set in the Broncos danger zone, Town crossed the line twice but were held up - the second time after a forward pass.

Workington were really getting into the game as the 10-minute mark approached and HKR loanee Tom Wilkinson crossed and scored when he received the ball from a ruck in London's 10m. Carl Forber knocking converted and the bottom club led 6-0.

But a mistake from the restart - with Forber knocking on in the in-goal - saw the Broncos gifted posession and  Rhys Curron powered over for a try. Dean Parata's conversion levelled the scores at 6-6.

Bad news for the visitors followed when captain Will Lovell was injured and stretchered off.

When play restarted, Workington wasted no time re-establishing their lead, moving strongly down field before hooker Evan Simons ran over from dummy half. Forber  converted again for a 12-6 lead.

London were looking fragile in defence and Workington started to dominate in attack making easy metres and forcing errors on London, especially in goal-line defence, with Forman and half-back Jamie Doran exposing weaknesses time after time.

With 25 minutes on the clock Caine Barnes crashed over for the next home try, next to the posts. Forber's conversion was no surprise and the lead stretched to 12 points at 18-6.

Both teams had more chances near their opponents' line as London started to get their act together in attack, if not defence, but the score was still at 18-6 when the half time hooter sounded. And Workington were good value for the lead.

The second half restart was delayed as Lovell was stretchered out to an ambulance and taken to hospital for tests on his neck injury.

When the half did get underway, London almost scored straight away. Iliess Macani recovered his own ricocheted kick and planted the ball over the line in the corner, but the eagle-eyed touch judge saw his foot stray onto the side whitewash and raised his flag.

It was Marcus O'Brien who opened the second-half scoring for Whitehaven, however, beating three London defenders and finding himself in open space to run in and score under the posts. Forber's goal was a formality and the score was 24-6 with eight minutes of the half gone.

London spent the next five minutes pressing the Town line as they tried to get back into the game, and Parata reached over the line to touch the ball down next to the posts after Workington gave the visitors another chance with an error in their own red zone.

Oliver Leyland goal to convert and London were back within 12 points of their hosts.

The Broncos were next to cross the line after 65 minutes when Alex Walker dashed through from the ruck, but was held up.

Then, awrded a penalty in front of the posts, they moved theball out to Forber on the left. Again the Town defence stepped up and stopped him just short of the line. Two tackles later, Lewis Bienek powered over under the posts and was held up.

London hadn't advanced the scoreboard - but it wasn't for want of trying.

Inevitably, it was Workington who actually got the next score. Moving upfield on the back of a London penalty, the team saw Simons presented with a golden opportunity to cross the line and he grounded the ball despite the attention of two London defenders. Forber convereted and the score was 30-12.

But London hit straight back. Bienek charged the hosts' defence knocking tackler after tackler off before being stopped. But the defence was out of place and Paul Ulberg raced onto a London kick and touched it down centimetres before it bounced dead. Leyland's conversion closed the score to 30-18.

However, the Broncos gifted Town the opportunity for a three-score lead again with a ball-steal in the in-goal area and Forber duly kicked the penalty for a 32-18 score iwth less than five minutes of the game left.

There was no further score in the those final minutes and the hooter sounded on a well-deserved Workington win after 12 defeats on the trot since winning their place in the Championship.

Both teams' positions in the table remained unchanged, but with just one point now separating them, things could be interesting at the bottom end of competition for the rest of the year.

Full Time: 32-18

Half Time: 18-6

Score Progression: 4-0, 6-0, 6-4, 6-6, 10-6, 12-6, 16-6, 18-6. HT. 22-6, 24-6, 24-10, 24-12, 28-12, 30-12, 30-16, 30-18, 32-18. FT

Lead Exchange: Workington - Square - Workington.

Workington Town: Thomas; Clegg, Brown, Tate, Teare; Doran, Forber (5G, P2); Fitzsimmons, Simons (T), Thomson, Wilkinson (T), Barnes (T), Davies. Substitutes: O'Brien (T), Clarke, Henson, Riley.

London Broncos: Walker; Ulberg (T), Latu, Ferreira, Macani; Leyland (2G), Thomas; Bienek, Parata (T, G), Williams, Lovell, Curren (T), Palumbo. Substitutes: Thorman, Foster, Tuliatu, Blakemore.

Referee: Liam Rush.

Venue: Derwent Park.

 



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Posted by tb on Thu 2nd Jun 2022 11:47 AM | Views : 18667 | Replies : 0 | BACK TO STORIES
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