Woolston Rovers 52 The RAF 6

WOOLSTON Rovers produced a good display to defeat a plucky RAF side in The Royal British Legion Challenge Trophy on Saturday at Monks Sports Club.

The game was part of a charity day at the club, with all proceeds going to The Poppy Appeal, and Rovers turned on the style in front of a large appreciative crowd to gain a win over an RAF side that contained several members who were making a nostalgic return to the ranks.

Rovers PRO Dave Whalley said: “That was a superb day all round and it has enabled us to make a lot of money for a fantastic charity.

“We are indebted to the RAF players for taking the time out of their busy schedules to help us make the day such a huge success and we look forward to the game again next year when we hope to make it even more of a special event.

“We would like to thank our very kind match sponsor Martyn Cheney from Cheney Payroll Services, matchball sponsor Made Profiles, associate sponsors club chairman Paul Bray and president Harry Crank and our man-of-the-match sponsor Bramley Buffaloes Rugby League Club.

“We were also very fortunate to have Santander involved on the day and we thank them for their time and support.

“Thank you to everybody who came along, especially the Rovers’ under eights side who had a stall on the day and to the seven mascots from our cubs, under sevens and under eights sides, and we look forward to seeing you all down at Woolston again very soon.”

Rovers opened the scoring in the fifth minute when winger Christian Taylor collected a high bomb inside his own in-goal area and took a quick 20-metre restart that caught the RAF off guard and raced 80 metres unopposed to score under the posts.

Fellow winger Chris Twigg converted and then three minutes later prop forward Jack Sherratt powered over on the left from close range. Twigg added the conversion.

Rovers moved further ahead when an inside ball from second row Anthony Clayton then found scrum half Will Chadwick and he went over for a try wide out on the left.

Twigg converted superbly and then midway through the half great hands along the line saw the ball reach centre Justin Becker who raced clear to score on the right.

Right on the stroke of half time Chadwick kicked ahead straight from a scrum on his own 20-metre line and full back Wil Maudsley showed blistering pace to outpace the RAF defenders and win the race to pick up the ball before going over between the posts.

Twigg converted to give Rovers a healthy 28-0 half time advantage.

Four minutes into the second half a kick by Chadwick was fumbled by the RAF defence and Maudsley pounced on the loose ball to collect and score under the posts.

Twigg added on the goal points and straight from the restart the ball was sent out wide to Taylor who sprinted down the left wing before finding prop forward Dan Fearnley on his inside to go over on the left.

Almost immediately Rovers were over once again when second row Sean Conway managed to juggle the ball before offloading to Twigg who stepped back inside to score on the right and then his chip on the last tackle was collected by Fearnley who went over for his second try wide out on the right.

The RAF were rewarded for their never-say-die attitude when second row Chris Gordon collected the ball 20 metres out and powered through the Rovers defence to score under the posts.

Substitute Bobby McGregor converted but then right on the stroke of full time Rovers' loose forward Mike Ward then collected the ball from the base of a scrum and raced 40 metres for the final try score on the left and Chadwick converted to make the final score 52-6 in Rovers' favour.

Man of the match, sponsored by Bramley Buffaloes Rugby League Club, was awarded to Rovers full back Wil Maudsley.

He was very well supported by prop forward Dan Fearnley, centre Justin Becker and scrum half Will Chadwick.

The RAF were best served by second row pair Jake Starbuck and Chris Gordon along with stand-off Curtis Lodge and prop forward Carl Harrison.

Rovers: Wil Maudsley; Chris Twigg, Justin Becher, Tom Keevil, Christian Taylor; Ryan Brown, Will Chadwick, Jack Sherratt; Danny Forster, Dan Fearnley, Anthony Clayton, Sean Conway, Mike Ward.

Subs: Tom Woodward, Danny Griffiths, Richard Potts, Andy Penny, Alistair Worrall.

The RAF: Bobby Jones; Tony Hetherington, Joe Grey, Adam Harrison, Dave Carey; Curtis Lodge, Damian Clayton; James Le Mar, Tom Moor, Carl Harrison, Chris Gordon, Jake Starbuck, Jon Ledger.

Subs: Dave Mulvey, Adam Middleton, Craig Smith, Jordan Jolly, Dave Fenney, Scott Cash, Bobby McGregor.

Referee: Andrew Marsh.

Touch judges: Ollie Maddock and Phil Loeb.