Workington Town 18 Whitehaven 33: Whitehaven stepped their foot on the gas in the second half to clinch an all-important victory over rivals Workington Town at Derwent Park.

It was a very tight game throughout with the scoreline deadlocked at 12-12 at the break but three tries at the start of the second half sealed the game for Haven as they went on to win 33-18.

Whitehaven looked the more fired up of the two teams in the opening encounters and were putting the pressure on the home side in front of a packed audience.

It showed in the intensity of the tackling with Jessie Joe Parker, Callum Phillips and Kurt Maudling combining to bundle Gordon Maudling into touch, near his own try-line.

And that field advantage paid off as Haven whipped the ball out to the left and Sam Forrester burst over the try-line to touchdown, Connor Holliday adding the extras.

Town were not helping themselves with silly mistakes costing them as Haven were given a helping hand down the field again and Kris Coward was held up over the line.

But the home side finally seemed to wake up shortly after and a lovely little ball from Izaac Farrell allowed Gordon Maudling to gallop down the left flank before he was pulled down about 15 metres out.

After moving the ball to the opposite side of the field, James Worthington was just halted short of the line and Sean Penkywicz just couldn't get a hand to the final kick over the try-line, although he did force a drop-out.

Penkywicz came closest for Town as a good spell got them on to the Haven try-line and he looked to stretch out to get it over but he just lost the ball.

Then, in the 26th minute, a little kick on the last from Carl Forber was captured over the line by Doran and he touched down to bring Town back into the game, Forber's kick levelling matters at 6-6.

That seemed to spur the home team on as a nice little offload from Caine Barnes gave a gap that Doran managed to get through to score his second of the afternoon, Forber again on target to give Workington the lead at 12-6.

A superb hit by Perry Singleton on Brett Phillips stopped the second-rower in his tracks but then Town gave away a forward pass to give Haven a chance 20 metres out with the clock starting to tick down.

And they took it with both hands as a lovely little pass from Chris Taylor allowed Jordan Burns in at the corner flag to score and Jake Moore converted from the touchline to level at 12-12.

Dion Aiye proved his worth when he joined the fray and a big hit on Scott Rooke saw the ball come loose in front of the posts inside the last minute but Town just held out and it finished 12-12 at the break.

Into the second half and it started at a frantic pace yet again with Tyllar Mellor just getting a foot into touch as he dived to try and get in at the corner.

But then Aiye created something out of nothing for Haven as he broke from the base of the scrum 20 metres off his own try-line and charged up the centre of the field.

He passed on to the supporting Jake Moore and he had the pace to go the rest of the way to touch down, leaving Holliday an easy two-pointer.

Tyler Lancaster, on trial with Workington Town, thought he had the perfect debut when he looked to go over the try-line but the referee disallowed the try, saying he had knocked the ball on over the line.

And then Haven marched back up the field and Parker put through Brett Phillips and he crossed to the delight of the travelling army of Whitehaven fans, with Moore tagging on the extras.

A penalty followed from the boot of Holliday and the visitors were 26-12 to the good.

Whitehaven were on the front foot and everything was going right for them as a high kick to the corner was allowed to bounce and it was an easy touch down for Burns but this time Moore could not land the conversion.

Danny Tickle gave Workington hope when he got over the line with just over 10 minutes remaining and Forber quickly tagged on the extras to get back under way with 12 points separating the two sides.

But with five minutes remaining, Jake Carter, Haven's new on-loan signing, sealed the victory for the visitors with a drop-goal.

And in the final minute a penalty from the boot of Holliday put the icing on the cake for Whitehaven as they recorded a 33-18 victory.