Rams exit the Challenge Cup at the fourth-round stage on a difficult day in Cumbria.
On a sunny but chilly Sunday afternoon the Rams looked to get back on track against Workington Town after Monday night’s defeat against Widnes Vikings.
Attacking into a strong breeze in the first half, the Rams started the match well, until a fumble in the in-goal area gave Workington the breakthrough with a try for Alex Clegg, converted by Jamie Doran. Shortly after, Doran went on a mazy run which took Workington down field before Declan O’Donnell crashed over from short range, which Doran once again converted.
The Rams then fired back, after back-to-back penalties put the Rams in a good position, Aaron Hall bundled his way over to score from a few meters out, which Matty Beharrell converted.
Not long after the restart, Doran then kicked a penalty to increase the Workington to eight. Their lead was increased to fourteen in the thirty second minute as Perry Singleton scored for Workington, converted by Doran. Things then went bad to worse for the Rams as Robson Stevens was sent to the sinbin toward the end of the first half.
With the wind behind their backs, the beginning of the second half started positively for the Rams with plenty of pressure on the Workington line before Town then broke up the field leading to Caine Barnes going over in the corner, which Doran converted.
Following on from a yellow card for Workington’s Barnes, the Rams then had more pressure on the Workington line but couldn’t find a way over until Beharrell’s grubber bounced back into his arms and he went over to score. With his conversion, Beharrell reached a 1,000 career points.
The Rams pressed hard after the try but were unable to get over the line again and the misery was heaped on with a late yellow card for Jordan Schofield.
On a disappointing day for the Rams, Head Coach Lee Greenwood said “We were really poor in the first half, we were playing into a really strong wind and we knew it was going to be difficult, so the message was to complete sets and defend well, unfortunately we did neither. We had two attacking sets in the first half and apart from that we spent the first half defending, which we didn’t do well. We were hoping that the second half would be a complete reverse of that but our decision making was really poor. It’s a real shame because there were a few lads given a chance today which they haven’t taken.”
Looking ahead to Whitehaven, Greenwood added “We’re going to try and strengthen the team ahead of a big game next week, we’ve got some experienced lads who will hopefully be back with us and we’re going to work hard to see if we can bring any additional players in.”
Workington Town (26): Postlethwaite, Young, Clegg, Bickerdike, Teare, Doran, Walker, Fitzsimmons, O’Donnell, Lightowler, Barnes, Singleton, Thomson
Interchanges: Dawson, Clarke, Steele, Brown
Tries: Clegg (9’), O’Donnell (15’), Singleton (32’), Barnes (47’)
Conversions: Doran (4/4)
Penalties: Doran (1/2)
Yellow Cards: Barnes (58’)
Dewsbury Rams (12): Sweeting, Gabriel, Dixon, Greensmith, Carr, Smith, Beharrell, Beckett, Butterworth, Annakin, Tomlinson, Ryder, Knowles
Interchanges: Schofield, Kidd, Hall, Stevens
Tries: Hall (22’), Beharrell (60’)
Conversions: Beharrell (2/2)
Yellow Cards: Stevens (35’), Schofield (72’)
Attendance: N/A
Our next game sees us back in league action and another trip to Cumbria on Sunday for our game against Whitehaven.
