Latchford Albion A 6 Woolston Rovers A 42

WOOLSTON Rovers A won the Stuart Middleton Foundation Warrington Alliance Cup final against Latchford Albion ‘A’ at Victoria Park Arena on Friday.

Rovers were in control from the off and managed to repel the valiant efforts of the Albion side and were thoroughly deserving of the win in a game that was played in a wonderful spirit in front of a large appreciative crowd.

Woolston opened the scoring in the third minute when loose forward Mike Ward powered onto a long ball from stand off Peter Leonard to score on the right. Leonard converted.

Both teams were involved in an arm wrestle with chances at a premium due to some fine defence from the two teams and it wasn’t until the 25th minute that Rovers managed to move further ahead when a short ball from substitute Ian Ward found second row Danny Brown at speed and he raced over at the side of the posts. Leonard converted.

Three minutes before the break a clever chip over the Albion defence by Leonard saw the ball bounce perfectly into the arms of the on-running D Brown and he rounded the cover superbly to race 30 metres and score at the left of the posts.

Leonard converted to make the half time score 18-0 to Woolston.

Four minutes into the second half Rovers second row Lewis Hoarty collected the ball on the halfway line and he went 50 metres, before managing to wriggle out of an attempted tackle to touchdown at the right of the posts.

Leonard goaled and then just before the hour mark Rovers scrum half Will Chadwick spotted a gap in the Albion defence and raced 50 metres, outpacing the chasing pack to score at the side of the posts.

Leonard added the conversion and Latchford were temporarily reduced to 12 men as centre Dave Yii was sin binned for dissent.

Rovers took advantage of the extra man when they kept the ball alive through six sets of hands before D Brown’s inside ball found twin brother Chris and the centre ducked under an attempted tackle to score on the right. Leonard converted.

A superb long ball from Leonard was collected brilliantly by winger Martin Ball and he managed to squeeze over in the left hand corner.

Leonard landed a fine touchline conversion to make it seven out of seven and maintain his 100 per cent success rate.

Three minutes from time Rovers had captain M Ward sin binned for a high tackle and from the resulting penalty the Albion gained a deserved consolation try when Yii went from dummy half and brushed off four defenders to score wide out on the left.

Hooker Liam Sargeant added the conversion to make the final score 42-6 to a delighted Woolston A side.

The man of the match was awarded to Rovers second row Danny Brown.

He was very well supported by prop forward Mark Forster, loose forward Mike Ward and stand off Peter Leonard.

The Albion were best served by centre Dave Yii, hooker Liam Sargeant, prop forward Dave McGuinness and second row Ryan Skidmore.

Rovers A coach Mark Robinson said: “I was very pleased with the manner of our victory. Danny Forster and I asked the boys to play at a high intensity from the start and they did just that.

"It was nip and tuck in the opening quarter with both defences on top but we then started to play more expansive rugby and that enabled us to get on a roll.

"Our forwards were immense throughout and kept the Albion on the back foot for long periods and that paved the way for us to score some exceptional tries.

"It hasn’t been easy for us this year but it is a very fitting way to end the season.

"We had several lads in our side who were playing their last game before retiring and for them to get a winner's medal was the perfect way to end their careers.

"We had to work hard as Latchford really got stuck in and contributed to an excellent game.”

Albion: Steve Worrall; Jamie Sampson, Dave Yii, Joe Clarke, Jake Ashton; Gavin Bishop, Paul Lake; Dave McGuinness, Liam Sargeant, Luke Gorry, Cain Hillen, Ryan Skidmore, Mike Bishop. Subs: Dave Potter, Joe Oakes, Josh Stanger, Daniel Dowman, Luke Gallimore.

Rovers: Dominic Ball; Liam Sullivan, Jimmy Evans, Danny Brown, Martin Ball; Peter Leonard, Wil Chadwick; Mark Forster, Danny Forster, Bobby McGregor, Chris Brown, Lewis Hoarty, Mike Ward. Subs: Ian Ward, Tom Fagan, Tom Woodward, Richard Potts, Tom McIntosh.

Referee: Ray Keir. Touch Judges: Ben Hopwood and Gareth Hopwood.