Warrington 3rd 32 BAE Warton 17

WARRINGTON’S third team were made to dig deep to overcome a very strong challenge from a talented BAE Warton outfit but two tries apiece from Mark Tickle and Ashley Rockey ensured their progress to the semi-finals of the BESTS Bowl.

It took just five minutes for Warrington to get the scoreboard ticking, by virtue of a well-struck penalty from Matt Drinkwater.

The lead was then increased when man-of-the-match Mark Tickle produced another Mike Brown impersonation to score his first try.

Matt Drinkwater converted.

Warton responded virtually immediately with a try through their forwards, which was converted.

A penalty then saw the scores leveled but a Drinkwater penalty on the stroke of half time saw Warrington turn round with a three point advantage.

The Warrington lead was soon increased to ten points when Ashley Rockey picked up from the base of a scrum and bullied his way over under the posts and Drinkwater kicked the simple conversion.

However, Warton came back with a try and conversion of their own but quick thinking from Charlie McIlroy saw a quick line out throw to Mark Tickle result in the full back crossing for his second score to put some daylight between the sides.

The result, and passage to the semi-final, was then sealed when Ashley Rockey again picked up from the base of a scrum and powered over under the posts.

Matt Drinkwater converted to make the final score 31-17.

“This was a tough cup-tie,” said captain Shaun McDermott.

“Warton came here to win but our lads stepped up to the plate.

“This was especially true of young Sam Bennett, filling the very wide shoes of Jon Bennett, who had been required for second team duties.

“We can now look forward to our semi-final game against Firswood Waterloo on April 19.

“That should make it an exciting two weeks, as we play Waterloo on April 12 in what could well be a promotion decider.

“Bring it on!”