FOLLOWING their excellent win at Egremont Rangers last Saturday Woolston Rovers NCL side will travel to East Leeds on Saturday in the semi-final of the National Conference League Cup.
The coach will leave Monks Sports Club at 11.45am and supporters who wish to travel please contact Nikki Whalley on 07889 170895 to secure your seat. Kick off is 2.30pm at Easy Road, Leeds LS9 8QS.
Rovers Head of Coaching Mal Holt said, “It was certainly a memorable win at Egremont and we now need to bottle that and produce the same level of performance against an East Leeds side who claimed a narrow 34-32 win at Stanningley last weekend and have always proved to be very tough opponents, especially on their own ground. We are really keen to get the job done and progress through to the Final as it would be a fitting end to a season that has had plenty of ups and downs but the effort and squad unity has been spot on and something that we will certainly build on in the future. Hopefully, we will have a few regulars available for selection, which will be a boost as a couple of the injured players from the Egremont game will be ruled out, although the other lads who stepped up last week put themselves in with a very good chance of deservedly keeping their place.”
If you would like to be involved at Rovers in any capacity, please contact Club Secretary Nikki Whalley on 07889 170895, e-mail nikki_whalley@hotmail.com or log on to the club website at www.pitchero.com/clubs/woolstonroversrlfc/ for further details.
Meanwhile, last Saturday Rovers produced one of their best performances for many years as they travelled to Whitehaven to face Egremont Rangers and came away with a stunning victory in the National Conference League Cup at Gilfoot Park
to book their semi-final place.
Rovers, with several regulars unavailable, got off to the best possible start when they opened the scoring after only two minutes; winger Dan Griffiths was held just short and then from the play the ball on the last tackle saw hooker Ryan Brown go down the short side from dummy half to catch the Egremont defence out and he went through the gap to score wide out on the left but then twelve minutes later Rangers drew level when loose forward Pat Wells, standoff Kris Tyson and scrum-half Billy Thomson combined and found full-back Sam Appleby linking into the line and he forced his way over wide out on the right.
Just before the midway point of the half Rovers substitute, rob Griffiths was held just short after a strong run and a quick play the ball saw Brown find second row Ryan Hickman who twisted in the tackle to score on the left. Full back Aaron Barber converted and eight minutes later Rovers were awarded a penalty in front of the Egremont posts but they chose to run the ball and Brown passed to loose forward Adam Files who powered over at the side of the posts. Barber added the conversion.
Right on the stroke of halftime Egremont were awarded a penalty following a late tackle on the kicker and Thomson successfully landed it to make the interval score 16-6 in Rovers favour.
A minute into the second half Egremont narrowed the deficit to just six points when second-row Keiran Glenn made a sixty metre down the right to score wide out but Rovers refused to let their heads drop and six minutes later a brilliant cross-field kick on the last tackle by stand-off Theo Holt was fumbled by Egremont and winger Wil Maudsley picked up the loose ball and scored on the right.
Just after the hour mark Rovers were awarded a penalty deep inside the Rangers half and again they had the confidence to run the ball and after prop forward Harry Files had been held just short the ball was passed to A Files whose mazy run saw him evade three defenders to score at the side of the posts. Barber added the conversion.
Rovers were then awarded another penalty, after Egremont were caught offside, and this time Barber took the two points on offer to edge his side further ahead and then with two minutes remaining Brown put the icing on the cake with a drop goal to complete a fantastic 29-10 win that sets them up for a Semi-Final trip to East Leeds next Saturday.
The Man of the Match was awarded to Rovers stand-off Theo Holt, whose kicking game continually penned Egremont on their own line. He was very well supported by loose forward Adam Files, prop forward Harry Files and second-row Josh Sudlow. A special mention must also go to seventeen-year-old Matt Jenkins who made his NCL debut and did not look out of place one bit. He went on in his usual front-row position but played most of the second half in the centre due to injuries and put in some crunching tackles.
After the game Rovers Head of Rugby Mal Holt said, “For the first time in over twenty years we travelled to Egremont; we knew it was going to be a big ask to come away with the spoils but we did and I couldn’t be prouder of every single player! The performance was outstanding from the outset; our aggression, skill and game management was the best it has ever been against a well drilled aggressive side with a sideline to match! We quickly got to grips with their game plan and their strike players, which just added to their frustration against us. We played the whole of the second half with only one substitute, due to injuries suffered in the first half that meant they were unable to return to the game. Our pack was immense throughout and dominated the much bigger Egremont forwards. We need to take this game and bottle it up for next week as we travel to East Leeds in the Semi-Final.
ROVERS
Aaron Barber, Dan Griffiths, Tom Byrne, Dan Fearnley, Wil Maudsley, Theo Holt, Ben Dixon, Wez Lawton, Ryan Brown, Harry Files, Josh Sudlow, Ryan Hickman, Adam Files.
Subs:James Jones, Ashley Owen, Matt Jenkins, Rob Griffiths.
Tries
Brown (2 mins), Hickman (16), A Files (26, 61), Maudsley (47).
Goals
Barber 4
Drop Goal
Brown
