Woolston Rovers 48 RAF Leeming Hawks 10

WOOLSTON Rovers defeated RAF Leeming Hawks in the inaugural Royal British Legion Challenge Trophy at Monks Sports Club on Saturday.

A bumper crowd, that helped raise £867.72 for The Poppy Appeal, watched Rovers assemble a 30-0 interval lead with tries from Spain international Danny Garcia O'Brien, Chris Mellor, two, Graham Healey and Matt Clarke.

Ian Ward, Mike Ward and Josh Sudlow got in on the act for Rovers in the second half, with Dan Walker and Dafydd Roberts crossing for Hawks.

Healey went on his own from dummy half to score the opener after three minutes, with Garcia adding the first of his seven conversions.

Smart passes from Sudlow put Mellor over twice before Chris Brown split the RAF to send Garcia flying home.

An audacious pass from Rovers' man-of-the-match Scott Whiteley fed Clarke for the final try of the first half.

A break of 40 metres by Danny Griffiths paved the way for Ian Ward's try before Hawks bagged successive touch downs, Walker's from a grubber kick and Roberts' effort from a long break.

Order was restored when the ball was swept along the line for Mike Ward to score, with Danny Griffiths landing the touchline conversion.

Sudlow went from dummy half to complete the scoring.

Rovers: Danny Garcia O’Brien; Sam Vernon, Matt Robinson, Chris Brown, Christian Taylor; Dave Manfredi, Graham Healey; Chris Mellor, Josh Sudlow, Matt Clarke, Anthony Clayton, Lewis Hoarty, Scott Whiteley. Subs: Dan Fearnley, Ian Ward, Dominic Ball, Mike Lagar, Mike Ward, Callum Moore, Sam Wood, Joe Maher, Danny Griffiths.