Whitehaven 6 Workington Town 22

The bragging rights stayed firmly with Workington Town after a deserved League One Cup victory at the Recreation Ground.

Always sharper in attack, with more penetration than their hosts, Town were following-up their win in the Ike Southard Memorial Trophy game a fortnight earlier.

Just like then, Town had 16 points in hand on their rivals as they booked their place in the quarter finals of the competition.

For the opening quarter of the game, there was nothing in it.

The kick-off had been delayed by an hour and a quarter but, in heavy underfoot conditions and with rain making ball control difficult, both teams went at it with customary gusto.

The tackling from both sides was tough and effective so that there were no real clear breaks from either side.

But, on 25 minutes, Town broke the deadlock after an error from the rivals.

Jesse Joe Parker dropped a simple pass in his own ten-metre zone and Carl Forber was in quickly to hack the ball over the line and dive on it to complete the touchdown.

Although he failed to convert the breakthrough, that had given Town lift-off and they enjoyed a good spell.

With Steve Scholey running strongly; debutant Phil Joseph, powerful and eager for work and the exemplary Stuart Howarth calling the shots, Town were well on top.

They increased their lead on 28 minutes after a great burst in midfield from Tom Curwen.

Howarth took over to feed Kieran Mewes and, as the defence closed on the winger, he booted the ball forward towards the Whitehaven line.

It should have been tidied up but Town speedster Theerapol Ritson arrived first to dive in for the second unconverted try.

Whitehaven did have a spell at the end of the game when they went close.

Instead of going for the simple penalty to get themselves on the board, they took the tap and were desperately close to scoring. James Newton dived in from close range but was unable to ground the ball.

Tommy Holland and Glen Riley, when they were on the field sharing front row stints for Whitehaven, both ran strongly and coach Carl Foster was always prominent as he played the whole game.

But Town were able to extend their lead with a Mewse penalty on 53 minutes.

Whitehaven desperately needed a lifeline and they almost got that four minutes later.

Good pressure on the Town line saw Foster plunge over but, in doing so, he knocked-on.

When play swept to the other end, Jordan Burns knocked-on three metres from his own line when dealing with a long kick by Jamie Doran.

It proved to be a fatal error for when Town eventually got the ball wide Joe Hambley had a simple task in diving over in the corner. Mewes, who has all the makings of a fine kicker, added a touchline conversion.

Whitehaven sadly lacked creativity and were more ponderous than their opponents when attacking the line.

But they did manage to get over on 74 minutes when Holland crashed through for a try which Paul Crook converted.

But it wasn’t the start of a late Whitehaven revival and the last word, deservedly went to Town.

Whitehaven were attacking when Howarth made a smart interception and raced through.

As he was being caught, he put in a clever kick ahead and it was Forber who was there to dibble over the line and get the touchdown.

Again it was Mewes who put over the conversion to round off a confident Workington performance.

Whitehaven: Burns, Parker, Moore, Taylor, Pattinson, Crook, Roper, Shackley, Newton, Holland, McAvoy, Tilley, Forster. Subs (all used) Worthington, Maudling, Riley, Dalton.

Try: Holland. Goal: Crook.

Workington Town: Ritson, Hambley, Davies, Chmberlain, Mewse, Forber, Howarth, Curwen, C. Phillips, Scholey, B. Phillips, Joseph, Singleton. Subs (all used) Dowsett, Doran, Coward, Shelford.

Tries: Forber (2), Ritson, Hambley. Goals: Mewes (3).

Referee: Callum Straw

Crowd: 908

Penalties: 14-9

Half-time: 0-8

Star men: Tommy Holland (Haven) and Stuart Howarth (Town)