Once again, Workington Zebra Finches delivered on the day as they produced another all-round teamwork performance with a 47 – 0 demolition job on Oldham Ladies at The Ellis for their fourth successive North 2 West league victory and remain unbeaten so far in 2022.

No less than nine tries were dispatched over the whitewash – with captain Charlotte Cammack and leading scorer Lauren Coulson helping themselves to a hat-trick each – and only the wayward wind prevented an even bigger score, with all but one of the nine conversion efforts unsuccessful.

And all this came after Oldham dominated the opening 10 minutes of the first half, with probing runs and doughty scrummaging that the Finches were alert to at all times.

Workington soaked up this pressure before hitting back in kind with 2 tries in 3 minutes – first their maiden surge into Oldham territory was rewarded on 10 minutes with Cammack finish off a scrum by thrusting herself over the line and then 3 minutes later more well executed scrummaging ended with Sammy Jo Cole nipping in for her maiden try in Finches colours.

Oldham, to their credit, refused to kow-tow and again produced several creative moves but any potential attacks were swiftly blunted by Workington’s tough and uncompromising defensive rearguard and having ridden this potential storm. the Finches began to accelerate up a gear in order to reassert their authority.

Their lead was increased with two more tries in the space of five minutes – another concerted drive by the Finches pack led to Cammack streaking home for her second try on the half hour and then five minutes from half time, a brilliant pass and move action was rounded off by Grace Weston who shrugged off slack marking to snaffle her 5th try of the season.

Barely 6 minutes had elapsed in the 2nd half when Workington added another try as Cole turned provider when she offloaded the ball to Coulson, who raced clear to touch down for a well deserved try.

Six minutes later it was Lauren Wilkinson's turn to shine as she started a move from her own half & after the ball passed through several hands there she was to mercilessly punish Oldham by ploughing over the tryline.

By this time, the Finches were not so much cruising down the highway as flying to the stars as they produced champagne rugby to leave Oldham punch drunk - Chloe Pape and Chantelle Wood both dazzled on the wings while Rose Cleeton again made light work of her Evergreen status in the back row.

On 65 minutes Cammack completed her hat trick when she outfoxed Oldham by taking a quick tap and go to coast into the corner.

Ten minutes from time a rainbow arrived to accompany the windy conditions and although Workington didn't quite find a crock of gold, they
did find two final tries as Coulson took advantage of tiredness in the Oldham ranks to gallop home unopposed on both occasions to complete her hat trick.

As mentioned before, the bad weather meant that conversion attempts were futile - but after Coulson's hat-trick try, Elsa Whelan broke the curse to add the first conversion of the afternoon at which point the final whistle sounded.

Despite the result Oldham deserve credit for turning up to play and for having their moments - albeit at a premium - during the 80 minutes and they will be seeking revenge when they host the Finches on 24th April.

For Workington, they can take pride in another all-round performance from 15 to 9 and 1 to 8 as well as the replacements - it was great to see the return of Birthday girl Beth Adams and bride to be Linzi Carruthers as they provided strong second half cameos.

The result leaves Workington 4th in North 2 West and they will hope to make it 5 in a row this Sunday at The Ellis as they entertain runaway champions Southport.

By John Hastings at The ESG.