t's now 5 league wins in a row & still unbeaten this year for Workington Zebra Finches as they edged home 27 - 17 against Bury in a tough & doughty encounter at The Ellis.

Barely three minutes had passed when Workington got off to a cracking start as Grace Weston got on the end of a pass & delivered a burst of pace that left Bury flat-footed as she nonchalantly cruised home unchallenged to open the scoring.

The Finches gradually & assertively exerted their authority on proceedings & having twice gone close to increasing their lead, they eventually hit the jackpot on 24 minutes when Beth Adams sliced through the visitors' defence before offloading the ball to Claire Pooley who instantly found Beth Sunderland & she wasted no time in thrusting herself over the line to clinch her maiden try in Finches colours.

Bury started to tighten up their defence while at the same time deliver several inroads into Finches territory and 4 minutes from time an impressive pass and move attack ended with them slipping through to touch down - the first try conceded at The Ellis since last October.

The second half began fairly evenly but ir was Workington who struck the first blow on 50 minutes when Weston once again scythed her way through for a second try of the afternoon.

On the hour, the Finches grabbed a 4th try & secured a Bonus Point when Lauren Coulson gleefully snaffled Sammy-Jo Cole's past to go in for her 11th try of the season.

With the score now at 20 - 5 it looked as if Workington were about to romp clear out of sight, but Bury had other ideas & they managed to stem the onslaught before soaking up the pressure and then on 65 minutes delivered excellent scrummaging that led to them scoring in the corner - & after 5 failed attempts by both sides, this try was finally converted.

An evenly matched period followed in which Workington were determined not to see their lead further eroded while Bury were just as eager to stage an unlikely comeback - inevitably this led to a few stalemate scrums.

With time running out, something had to give & on 78 minutes it was Workington who seized the initiative & wrapped up victory when Sammy-Jo Cole turned poacher this time round with her 2nd try in as many games.

Having been desperately unlucky with her 4 previous conversion attempts, Elsa Whelan maintained her composure to calmly make it 5th time lucky to the deserved & heartfelt cheers of the Ellis faithful.

But the last word went to Bury in stoppage time as they exploited slack Finches marking to score their 3rd try of the afternoon.
Despite the result, Workington remain below Bury in 5th place in North 2 West, although they do have games in hand.

Once again, it was another all-round team effort with everybody putting in a shift, be it the full 80 minutes or a cameo from the bench.

Sophie Bowness deservedly won Player Of The Match for her no-nonsense efficiency as hooker while special mention goes to Sammy-Jo Cole, whose “C-Force” centre partnership with Lauren Coulson continues to flourish with every game. Laura Southam also made her presence felt on the pitch with feisty scrummaging and clinical tackling while Beth Adams played at Number 8 like a veteran. Amber Sullivan also knocked on the door for a first team place with her short but sweet performance off the bench.

While Workington will be disappointed about conceding three tries, they can take pride on maintaining their winning streak and they go into their final home game against unbeaten champions Southport on 24th April with great confidence.

By John Hastings @ The ESG