WORKINGTON Town Ladies made one of the shorter trips to kick off their league campaign with an opening fixture away at Leigh on Sunday.
Town themselves were looking for a first league win against the Miners Rangers, in Leigh, following an end-to-end 20-20 draw at Twist Lane last year.
This Town side, however, seems to be a different beast in 2026 as the side is through to the semi-finals of the Challenge Shield with a more than comfortable victory against championship Hull FC last week, 24-14 on home turf.
There was also good news for the visitors on the injury front as they were able to welcome back Alice Rush into the playing squad for the first time in a year.
The game in Leigh started in far better weather than last week's against FC, but the discipline of Town was questionable, coupled with a few suspect calls that saw the hosts go 4-0 up after 13 minutes as Adele Allred scored, Isla Aspden converting superbly for 6-0.
The Town side came back into the game and scored a try when Beth Adams took five defenders over the line, Keeley Chatters missing the kick for 6-4.
The restart was good for Town as they defended superbly and forced a knock on 10 shy of the Miners Rangers line. There was then a stoppage in play to help an injured Leigh player.
Town did attempt a long pass from Josie Scrimgour but the pass was too low for Nikita Gibson to capitalise. The game then went back and forth with poor handling from both sides contributing to a scrappy affair.
Leigh scored again outwide with Town’s defence left wanting as Aspden missed the kick for 10-4 as Charlotte Hill scored again just before half time.
Town were under the pump when Katelyn Misfud knocked on, but were reprieved when Miners Rangers repaid the favour as Town were breaking from their half when Kacey Currie was rocked and required attention, which stopped the game as the 18-year-old went off with wobbly legs.
The game started well in the second half for Town when, on 50 minutes, Leia Turner scored after good play from Beth Adams and Georgia Naylor, the kick outside missing 10-8.
Town followed with a superb set following the score as Scrimgour broke 40 metres. The game then turned in Town's favour as Chatters used superb footwork to feed Misfud over the line, the kick good for 10-14.
Town once again returned a cracking set from their score, but an error from Adams allowed Leigh Miners the ball back close to their own line. The game then returned with poor play from both.
Town were able to make the most of an in truth poor pass, to evade a number of defenders and strip the hosts' full-back for pace to go under the posts for 10-20 to the visitors.
Town then played some exquisite rugby as Chatters scored a well-deserved try, missing the kick for 10-24. Town came back to turn the screw as Price made three fantastic breaks at hooker to see the Cumbrians turf the ball over five metres off their line.
The Leigh side did try to build some pressure with a couple of minutes left on the clock and forced Turner into a knock on. Town defended well until Aspden scored over by the posts for 14-24, the kick going over for 16-24.
Town were the beneficiaries of a huge kick off from Keeley Chatters, who earned a dropout with Town on the attack as the referee called full time.
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