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Whitehaven 28 - 12 Dewsbury Rams
Match report by Tom Coates
Despite a battling performance, and tries
from Ian Preece and Josh Weeden, 12-man Dewsbury left
Cumbria empty handed.
The home side opened the scoring in the
5th minute when centre Derry Eilbeck beat Kane Epati to
'haven half John Duffy's perfectly weighted chip. Carl
Rudd added the conversion.
Twelve minutes later and the Rams had a
real mountain to climb. Influential prop Andy Hobson,
who had been in a rich vein of form
as of late, was sent-off for a late, high challenge on
Rudd. 'The Rec' is a tough place to visit at the best of
times but with a man down, you'd forgive the the loyal
band of travelling Rams fans for fearing the worst.
Richard Fletcher kicked the resulting
penalty to make it 8-0 with a quarter of the game
played. The Rams struck back quickly though. Josh Weeden
made a half-break just inside the Whitehaven half
and released Chris Hall who superbly fed Ian Preece
(pictured left) and the Rams full-back, who is
quickly developing a reputation as a clinical finisher,
crashed over next to the posts. Dean Lawford, taking
over the kicking duties from the injured Francis
Maloney, added thee extras and Dewsbury were back in it.
Whitehaven were able to put space between
the sides shortly before the interval however when John
Duffy broke down the blind-side and found the on-rushing
Craig Calvert. The flying winger, considered by many to
be the fastest in the game, was able to touch down out
wide unopposed. The conversion was missed, making it
12-6 at half-time.
Early pressure at the start of the second
period paid off for the home side 15 minutes in when
'haven centre Steve Maden dummied his way over from
close range to extend his side's advantage. Shortly
after, the lightning-quick Whitehaven winger Craig
Calvert raced the length of the pitch for his second try
of the afternoon - much to the
frustration of Liam Finn whose cross-field kick looked
to have put real pressure on the defending three-quarter
line. Both tries were converted and the Rams trailed
24-6.
By this point the game was drifting away
from the tiring visitors but, with the new scoring
system introduced by the RFL during the close season,
there was still plenty to play for. It was the home side
who put the game to bed with 9 minutes remaining however
when scrum-half John Duffy, who had had a hand in
Haven's first two tries, burrowed over in the corner.
Bryn Powell was able to send over Josh
Weeden (pictured right) for what proved to be
little more than a consolation try just before the end.
But the away side can feel proud of their efforts, had
it not been for Andy Hobson's moment of madness and two
disallowed tries, one in either half, the Rams could
have come away with at least a bonus point.
Rams: Ian Preece, Bryn Powell,
Danny Maun, Chris Hall, Kane Epati, Josh Weeden, Dean
Lawford, Andy Hobson, Luke Haigh, Dominic Maloney, Kevin
Crouthers, Martin Robinson, Alex Bretherton. Subs: Liam
Finn, Rob Kelly, Liam Crawley, David Bates.
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