Eastmoor Dragons 20 Woolston Rovers 24

LUKE Walker’s last-minute try ensured Woolston Rovers reached the National Conference League Division Three play-off final in dramatic style.

Walker’s try sparked wild celebrations among the Woolston players and supporters and ensured they snatched victory in a to-and-fro encounter in Wakefield.

Ryan Hickman, twice, Conner Muir and Aaron Barber had crossed for the Green and Golds beforehand as they set up a final showdown with Dewsbury Moor Maroons.

“Why make it easy for ourselves when we can do it the hard way? It seems like our motto for this season!” Rovers head coach John Fieldhouse said.

“This was a very difficult place to go but our fantastic team spirit, lots of sheer determination and an unbelievable amount of character means we refuse to give up.

“I always tell them to play to the final whistle and that is what it took for us to win the game right at the death.

“We were not at our best but we stuck at our task and in the end we got the result our efforts deserved.

“Our front row were absolutely outstanding whilst the impact from our strong bench proved vital as it allowed us to rotate our big lads without any reduction in quality “I was absolutely delighted for everybody at the final whistle.”

Eastmoor took the lead in the first minute through Jamie Dodds, but Hickman levelled the scores when he burst onto Walker’s flat pass.

Adrian Mulcahy’s penalty gave the hosts the lead again, but Muir’s dummy then fooled the Eastmoor defence and he raced through a gap to score, giving Rovers a 12-8 lead at the break.

Eastmoor hit back when Ryan Chalkley touched down Mulcahy’s kick, but again Hickman was on the mark for Rovers when he crashed over from Theo Holt’s pass.

Another Mulcahy chip led to Michael Jedynak touching down to give Eastmoor the lead again before a long Holt pass put Cameron Davies clear and he sent Barber over in the left corner to bring the scores level again.

The hosts failed with a drop goal attempt, giving Rovers one last chance to attack and Walker took full advantage, profiting from Dan Fearnley keeping the ball alive to score with the game’s final play.

Woolston: Glyn Roberts; Alex Dunne, Dani Garcia O’Brien, Luke Walker, Christian Taylor; Theo Holt, Conner Muir; Ryan Hickman, Ryan Brown, Matt Clarke, Cameron Davies, Justin Becker, Harry Files. Subs: Aaron Barber, Matt Davy, Dan Fearnley, Jack Sherratt.