Latchford Albion 20 Rylands Sharks 24.

RYLANDS advance to the semi-finals of the Warrington Cup after a hard-fought win in an intense derby clash with Latchford Albion.

A bumper crowd of over 200 fans saw two players, one from each side, sent off at the Victoria Park Stadium as the higher-ranked Sharks booked a semi-final date with fellow local rivals Crosfields.

The referee was kept busy in the opening exchanges as both sides looked to stamp their mark on the game, but it was the visitors who drew first blood when centre Danny Woods crossed for a try converted by Jack Lewis.

However, Albion were not behind for long and they hit back when a sweeping move saw the ball go through the hands to Dave Leventston, who sliced through the Sharks defence to score before Lewis Wightman added the conversion.

The game then descended into near-anarchy as the referee was forced to show two red cards in the space of five minutes.

First for an early bath was Latchford’s Liam Kennedy, who was dismissed for a high tackle.

Rylands would have hoped to make the most of their numerical advantage, but they too were reduced to 12 men minutes later when Nick Braide was red carded for a shoulder charge, which the referee deemed as to the head of a Latchford player.

The next score was always going to be crucial and it was Rylands who got it when Lewis converted his own try to give his side a 12-6 half-time lead.

Tony Doyle then scored a superb solo try converted by Lewis to give the visitors a 12-point lead, but the hosts refused to lie down and Stu Simm showed great strength to hold off two defenders and score in the corner.

Woods got his second of the game on the hour mark, with Lewis’ conversion putting Rylands 24-10 ahead.

Albion continued to fight and Danny Brown burst through a gap to score near the posts, with Wightman’s conversion reducing the gap to eight points.

They narrowed the deficit further when Simm was the first to reach Connor Muir’s kick and touch down to put the hosts within a score of winning.

Latchford laid siege to the Rylands line, but the Sharks held on to secure their semi-final place.