THREE ON THE SPIN AS ZEBRAS MAKE PROMOTION PITCH

The Cumbria League season may be in its' early throes, but Workington stated their case as credible promotion candidates as they registered their 3rd successive victory during a 48 - 18 humbling of Egremont in their rearranged clash at The Ellis.

Although the rain managed to cease in time for kick off, both sides had to contend with testing windy conditions and the match was only 3 minutes old when Rob Scott capitalised on a stray pass to gallop clear for Workington's opening try, which Sam Robinson easily converted.

It then got better for Zebras when in the 9th minute a driving scrum ended with David Wordsworth thrusting himself over the whitewash for an unconverted try and with Egremont well and truly on the back foot, this lead was further increased on 18 minutes when John McCrickerd was on hand to finish off an excellent pass and move routine, though this went unconverted.

Other than a few surges into their hosts' territory, Egremont had hitherto little else to offer, but that changed swiftly after 21 minutes when a quick through ball caught the Zebras squarely off guard and was rounded off with a converted try.

This merely woke up the Zebras and their foot was soon back on the pedal when on 25 minutes they registered their 3rd Bonus Point of the season after Shaun Murphy snaffled a loose ball and sprinted clear to go over, with Robinson converting this time round.

Eight minutes from time, the lead was increased when another well constructed passing sequence concluded with Jonny Howarth ghosting in from the blindside to stun Egremont as he became the 5th different Zebras player to score. Once again, Robinson was on hand to effortlessly deliver the conversion.

With the score at 31 - 7, it looked as if a resounding landslide was on the cards, but to their credit, Egremont regrouped and refocused, managing to see out the remainder of the first half before catching Workington cold 4 minutes into the second half with their 2nd converted try of the game

However, any hopes of a Zebras wobble were ruthlessly dissolved on 48 minutes when another driving scrum resulted in captain Andrew Bowe producing his now legendary crashdown try.

Egremont were not prepared to go quietly and they conjured up their 3rd try 6 minutes later when a powerful run down the side ended with a try in the corner. Not for the first time, the windy conditions made it impossible for a successful conversion.

With the score now 36 - 19, there were still concerns that Workington could have thrown it away, but on 62 minutes maximum points were firmly banked as another well driven scrum was finished off with Robinson becoming the 7th different Zebras try scorer and he followed this up with his 4th conversion of the day.

The Zebras were content to protect their lead, but were equally determined to prevent Egremont from collecting a bonus point of their own and try as they could, the visitors were unable to make significant inroads towards the tryline.

Deep into stoppage time, Zebras had the final say as Scott gleefully sprinted clear for his second try of the match and his 4th in 3 league games since his return to The Ellis.

Workington move up to 3rd in the Cumbria League and will hope to keep the momentum going when they host Cockermouth next Saturday.

By John Hastings @ The ESG