Town ease home but Cumbria show class

Tony Harrison reports from Derwent Park

Last updated 11:29, Friday, 04 April 2008

IT was always going to be a no-win situation for Town against an amateur side containing the county’s best. But the Amateurs, using this as a selection game for the County Championship were not overawed by their professional hosts.

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New boy: Town’s closed-season signing Mark McCully tests the Cumbria Amateurs’ defence

Workington Town 38, Cumbria Amateurs 16

Played over three, 30-minute periods, Town kept their shape in the first two periods but changes on the field saw them let in three tries in the final 30 minutes.

“I was happy with the performance. Parts of our play were good but there were some parts that improvement needs to be made on,” Town coach Dave Rotheram told News & Star Sport.

“I was pleased with some of the execution but it wasn’t a good night to throw the ball around. There was enough there to suggest that we are

certainly on our way.”

One of the highlights of the first period was the performance of trialist Kiwi half-back Matt Ashe. Rotheram added: “He came off the back of some good forward play and some good ball from Carl Forber and he was able to show us what he can do. He’s got another game against Leigh Centurions a week on Sunday, so we’ll see how it goes.

“As you saw tonight, we played 25 players and it looked a bit scrappy at times. But we’ll only be taking 19 down to Leigh and we are certainly missing the likes of Shaun Lunt, Liam Campbell and Darren King at the moment.

“We let in three soft tries in the final period through chopping and changing, but I was quite happy with the first two periods when we kept them at bay.”

The Amateurs joint-coach Gary Charlton was very happy with the outcome, and said: “The boys got really stuck in and we asked them for plenty of commitment which they gave us.

“There are plenty of things for the lads to achieve this year with the County Championship and the tour to Australia and we can only select on performances. We just asked them to complete their sets, kick and chase would have been good, and they did that for 60 per cent of the time. But when we got in one-on-one situations we suffered a little.

“A few players stood out but that’s between me and Martin (Oglanby – fellow joint-coach) and we’ll select the squad soon when we know which Barrow players are available.”

The Amateurs fielded their Allerdale side in the first period, but it was Town’s left-winger Ryan Blair who scored the first two tries of the game in the left-hand corner, Forber goaling both from the touchline for a 12-0 lead.

Ashe then sliced through the Amateur’s defence to score Town’s third try, Forber adding the conversion, before Mark Routledge gave Town a 22-0 lead with a touchdown.

Franco Kmet was the only try-scorer in the second period against the Copeland side, Forber adding the two for a 28-0 lead.

Town’s James Robinson extended Town’s lead to 32-0 at the start of the third period, before a mixed Amateur side hit back with three tries from Kyle Lofthouse, Micky McAllister and John Patrick. Eddie Robinson added the three conversions.

Town new boy Mark McCully scored the final try of the game, Forber converting.

WORKINGTON Town vice-presidents will be holding a dinner in the Tom Mitchell Lounge at Derwent Park on Friday week, to celebrate the induction of Gus Risman into the Town Hall of Fame. Tickets, costing £15, are available from the club.