MATCH REPORT: MIDLANDS HURRICANES 38 - 8 WHITEHAVEN RLFC (BETFRED LEAGUE ONE ROUND 10)

Aaron Willis celebrating his try with his teammates (Credit: Andy Shaw)

Canes blow away Whitehaven for second time this season

Just two weeks after our historic away victory over Rochdale Hornets at The Crown Oil Arena, the Canes were back at The Alex for the first time in a month to host Whitehaven for a second time (following Midlands 52-24 win the First Preliminary Round of the 1895 Cup). Head Coach Mark Dunning and his men knew that the visitors would be a much-changed side from that encounter and keen to right the wrongs of that first-ever defeat, and the performance that followed showed the lads were up to the task.

In terms of team selection, Mark Dunning’s 21-man squad was subject to only one change with Captain Callum McLelland featuring for the first time since February in place of young half-back/hooker Ethan Newboult following a leg injury sustained in training. Despite his inclusion he did not feature in the 18-man squad, with our Head Coach deciding to reward the 80-minute performance in Rochdale by electing not to change a winning side.

The opening ten minutes of the first half was very much in the visitors control, with some good attacking sets forcing the Canes to concede back-to-back goal-line drop-outs and invite sustained pressure on the Midlands try-line. That pressure eventually led to a crack in the home defence, with a short round-the-back pass to Jack Kellett giving him an opportunity to find space to dive through and score under the posts (0-4). Jay Weatherill added the extras with the easy conversion from in front of the sticks (0-6).

After this initial stumble, the Canes took control and began applying pressure on the Whitehaven line. Whilst we could not capitalise on our first real set on the visitors line following a knock-on, the second time would be the charm as a short pass to Sully Medforth saw the 20-year old half-back spot a gap and cut through before rounding the full-back and crashing over left of the sticks (4-6). Matty Chrimes - who took over kicking duties from Jake Sweeting who had suffered a quad injury early into the game - levelled the scores with the first two of 14 points he would eventually contribute to the Canes’ tally on Sunday afternoon.

It wouldn’t take long for the Canes to take the lead, although it could have come sooner as Aaron Willis came close to getting our second in the left-hand corner before being pulled back for a knock-on a metre short of the Haven line. A couple of minutes later the Canes would pull away following a scrum ten metres out, with a series of passes close to the try-line finding Aiden Roden who span out of a tackle to reach behind his head and dot the ball down to the frustration of the Whitehaven defence (10-6). Once again, Matty Chrimes was on hand to nail the extras from out wide (12-6).

Aiden Roden stretches over to score our second try (Credit: Andy Shaw)

The game settled down after Aiden’s try, however the visitors did have one potential opportunity to level the scores as a cheeky chip to the left corner was gathered by a Whitehaven player before some stubborn defence forced him to spill the ball and concede a 7-tackle restart on the Midlands 20 metre line. Haven would receive another opportunity to add some points on the board just before the half-way mark following a high tackle, and instead of seeking a second try Whitehaven called for the kicking tee so Jay Weatherill could reduce to deficit to four points (12-8). The half-time hooter shortly followed, and the hosts went into the changing rooms with a slender lead over the visitors.

Half-time: Midlands Hurricanes 12 - 8 Whitehaven RLFC

Unlike the first half, the second half was very much in Midlands’ control as 26 unanswered points saw the Canes comfortably pull away from a Whitehaven side who could not recreate the opening ten minutes of the first half. The first of our tries came a little over five minutes into the second half as young second-rower Aaron Willis collected a flat pass from Matty Chrimes to break through the line before copping a smack around the chops to earn us a penalty ten metres out. A few tackles into that set later and Willis found himself in position to take a short pass from two metres out to barrel over and score our third try of the afternoon (16-8). Matty Chrimes was unfortunate not to extend our lead to 10 points, with his kick battering the far post before bouncing out wide.

Ten minutes later the Canes extended their lead to 12 points, as a smart play by the Canes forwards drew a number of Whitehaven players out left and inevitably created space down the right edge. That space was exploited in the very next tackle as some swift hands from left to right found Matty Hanley, who cut through the gap in the Haven defence to score his fifth try in Canes colours (20-8). Matty Chrimes once again had a tough kick from out on the right, and despite his best efforts the ball drifted wide of the left post.

Matty Hanley in action for the Canes (Credit: Andy Shaw)

It only took two minutes for the Canes to extend their lead further, as some superb defence from the Canes forced the Whitehaven defence to try and ground the ball just ahead of their try-line and cause a knock-on in the process. Mark Dunning’s men clearly identified this as an opportunity to test out a training ground manoeuvre, and this paid dividends as from the first play Matty Chrimes put himself in position to receive a round-the-back pass and diagonally cut through the Whitehaven defence to score our fifth try left of the posts (24-8). After a couple of unsuccessful conversions earlier in the second half, Matty was on hand to add the extras to his own try (26-8) with a little under 20 minutes to go. Even with that much time left, any hopes of a Whitehaven comeback seemed unrealistic.

There would be a slight lull for the next ten minutes or so, with the only notable moments being Matty Hanley unable to deal with a Medforth bomb before conceding a penalty for kicking the ball away in frustration, as well as some persistent ball-chasing forcing Whitehaven to concede back-to-back goal-line drop-outs. As the sides entered the final stages of the game, a nice Todd Horner break brought us within a metre of the Haven line before having to hand over possession to the visitors. Whitehaven would not enjoy possession for long, as from the very first tackle the Canes forced a knock-on and earned a scrum ten metres out. From the resulting set, young back-rower Ellis Hobson gathered a pass a couple of metres out and managed to stretch out as part of his carry to score our sixth try of the afternoon (30-8). Matty Chrimes was on hand to add the conversion, and any hopes of a comeback for the visitors were dead and buried.

Ellis Hobson bowling over to score his third try of the season (Credit: Andy Shaw)

The Canes weren’t done there, and in the final moments the home crowd were treated to perhaps the try of the afternoon as the hosts capped off a professional performance in style. Some hands from left to right saw Todd Horner put Danny Barcoe in possession, and in spotting a gap the hooker darted through the line and put on the afterburners to charge down the field before being slowed down by a desperate Whitehaven defender. The Haven defence wasn’t enough, and a pantsed Barcoe still had enough momentum to crash over and extend our lead further to the jubilation of the home crowd (36-8). Matty Chrimes then kicked his fifth and final conversion of the afternoon to draw a conclusion on proceedings (38-8).

Head Coach Mark Dunning was very pleased with the Canes second-half performance, acknowledging that his boys had dipped their toes in the first half and invited some pressure initially until settling into the contest and taking control. Special mention went to Man of the Match Sully Medforth who had to largely run the game himself following Jake Sweeting’s injury, as well as our forwards who had to play the second half with two interchanges after Mikey Wood pulled up with a back spasm early into the second forty.

Sunday’s win over Whitehaven saw the Canes remain in third place with 13 points, level with 2nd place Workington (who defeated Goole 24-16 at Derwent Park) and one point behind league leaders North Wales Crusaders (who pulled away to beat Keighley Cougars 6-30 at Cougar Park). Those wins did however see the top three clubs pull away from fourth-placed Rochdale and fifth-placed Swinton Lions (who both have 10 points).

Perhaps our favourite photograph from Sunday (Credit: Andy Shaw)

Full-time: Midlands Hurricanes 38 - 8 Whitehaven RLFC

Man of the Match:
Sully Medforth (Sponsored by Ideal Building Systems)

Tries:
Medforth, Roden, Willis, Hanley, Chrimes, Hobson and Barcoe

Conversions:
Chrimes (5/7)

Score sequence:
0-4, 0-6, 4-6, 6-6, 10-6, 12-6, 12-8, 16-8, 20-8, 24-8, 26-8, 30-8, 32-8, 36-8 and 38-8.