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Finches
Matches
Sun 16 Dec 2018
York
12
7
Workington RFC
Finches
CUP AGONY FOR FINCHES LEAVES CLEAR PATH FOR LEAGUE GLORY

CUP AGONY FOR FINCHES LEAVES CLEAR PATH FOR LEAGUE GLORY

John Hastings19 Dec 2018 - 00:18
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https://www.workingtonrfc.co.u

York 12 Workington Finches 7

Workington Finches exited the RFU Junior Cup but not before making York sweat for their place in the third round in a close, tough and intense encounter in Norh Yorkshire that ended in a narrow 12 - 7 victory for the hosts.

On a sunny but still bitterly chilly afternoon, the first half saw both sides measuring each other out with regular bursts of fiercely contested scrummaging. with captain Charlotte Bowman once again leading by example and Leonie Hudson in full blooded thrust of the action.

It was about 15 minutes before any real scoring chance occured and it fell to York as they launched the first of many waves of attacks into Finches territory but to their frustration could not execute the final move as Workington dug deep to ride each storm and keep the scoreline blank.

Hudson was unlucky to receive a yellow card on 25 minutes for what the referee deemed a high tackle but York were unable to take advantage of the extra woman as the Finches' dogged rearguard cordon once more held firm in the teeth of fierce attacking play.

Five minutes later, Workington came desperately close to breaking the deadlock themselves when Nicole Stewart collected the ball deep in her half before delivering her trademark solo run but with the tryline at her mercy she was reeled in by a desperate cover tackle and so both sides went into half time with the rare scoreline in rugby of 0 - 0.

The second half began with York determined to strike the first blow as they pressed hard and deep into Workington territory and on 45 minutes they hit the jackpot when Georgina Roberts collected the ball from a scrum before sprinting clear to score the opening try but Ruth Whitehead saw her conversion attempt forcefully charged down.

Workington recovered and slowly forced their way back into the game but despite several dangerous attacks could not find a way through the York defence and they were punished on 54 minutes when from a line out the hosts produced a nifty range of passes before Ellie Seagrave sliced through to go over the whitewash, with Davidson's conversion this time being successful.

Once again, Workington refused to lie down and with Bowman, Stewart, Danielle Easdon, Christina Tully and Elsa Whelan all working hard, again delivered threatening surges to give the hosts food for thought and ten minutes from time their patience paid off when Quinn produced a darting run before finding Stewart who galloped home untouched to go under the posts to set up an easy conversion for herself and reduced the arrears to 5 points.

By this time, the temperature was close to zero but the action was getting hot on the pitch as the following 10 minutes saw York grinding hard to protect their lead whilst Workington ploughed forward in their quest for a daring smash and grab victory. However for all their domination in the closing stages, the Finches could not deliver the final blow and the final whistle brought cheers tinged with relief for York.

Despite their cup exit, Workington finish off 2018 sitting proudly on top of North 2 West and with six league games remaining they will be even more focused on securing that first piece of silverware, starting with the first game of 2019 against Burnley at The Ellis on 27th January.

By John Hastings @ Clifton Park

Match details

Match date

Sun 16 Dec 2018

Kickoff

14:00
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