TWO Wins In A Row..!

Will Swinton play for eight minutes this season?! Probably not! Still, there was some great rugby, talk of Simpsons and lesbianism and a lovely day in the Sun so I'm going to enjoy it anyway!


Swinton Lions 33 Workington Town 24 by Jeff Tyldesley

Swinton Lions consolidated the seventh and final play off place in National League 2 by completing the double over the side below them in the table, Workington Town at Park Lane.

The Lions are a team suffering from a multiple personality disorder, as they proved for forty minutes here, they can be almost irresistible with the ball in hand, while as they demonstrated in the first half, they can also be terribly average.

Workington however showed great determination and stamina in the hot conditions, to claim a bonus point by scoring with the final play of the game in both halves.

Referee Ronnie Laughton drew great ire from the home support by trying to keep a tight rein on proceedings but both sides exacerbated the situation by repeat offending particularly when it came to offside.

Swinton handed a debut to new signing and local lad Paul Raftery, his power and aggression will certainly come in handy with the tough battles ahead.

Raftery however sat and watched the start with the rest of the basking crowd as Town threatened to score with the first possession, Jason Mossop denied by Laughton who saw a grounded Bryce Poisel slip him the pass.

That aside, there was little to comment upon in the opening stages, apart from much dropping of the ball and there being a penalty a minute for the opening ten minutes, as both sides repeatedly encroached on the ten yards.

Only Workington took advantage though, Carl Forber booting a penalty goal on nine minutes.

The Lions should have benefited more when Stephen Dawes could only parry Gary Hulse’s kick but Neil Rigby knocked on near the line on just the second tackle of the set.

Town went further in front as despite a fantastic tackle from Rigby to deny ex-Lion Jay Duffy, Forber astutely chipped over the Lions on the next tackle for Stephen Dawes to happily receive an easy try.

Swinton were making precious headway as the penalties thankfully dried up, Darren Bamford intercepted a Forber pass but couldn’t hold on with an open field ahead of him.

Workington then worked some lovely interpassing down the right flank culminating in Dawes racing in for his second which Forber again goaled.

If Liam McGovern wasn’t so expertly positioned to reel in a Forber pass bound for a supporting Town man, they could have roared away to a hefty win.

Instead McGovern was in the right place again to score at the other end after Martin Moana charged through the heart of the Town defence, Richie Hawkyard goaled.

Shaun Lunt then scored a tremendous individual try as the hooter sounded, powering through the wilting Lions defence.

Whatever was said and altered at half time was definitely well aimed as the Lions came out in the second half and blew Town away like a line of caravans in front of a Deep South tornado…

Just three minutes in, Raftery fed McGovern, who fed Chris Frodsham who showed great awareness of the touchline and somehow managed to find Bamford who delivered a one handed pass to Craig Ashall’s feet, he chipped it forward and with a nice bounce dived on it for a converted score.

Moana then almost sent Rob Line away but the pass was a fraction forward. Not to worry, another sublime try was soon to come. A quick play the ball, a tremendous pass from Gary Sykes missed out three players but sent Ben Williamson in at the corner.

Swinton were suddenly two adrift, Town nervously skewed a mysterious penalty wide before Ashall showed brilliant individual skill to chip and chase to score, Hawkyard matched it with a touchline adjacent goal.

Town had only themselves to blame as penalty after penalty lead to Hawkyard adding another two to the score for offside.

Another marginally forward pass denied Neil Rigby and the Lions soon after but they crafted another excellent score. Hulse’s pass out of the backdoor found McGovern who placed a grubber beautifully for Sykes to outpace the cover and Moana to the ball, Hawkyard inexplicably missed from near the posts.

It looked like Town wouldn’t even get a bonus point as first McGovern potted a drop goal from beneath the sticks and then when Duffy fumbled McGovern’s bomb, Hulse coolly kicked ahead and dived on it.

There was another certain try for Rob Ball wiped off after the ref thought Hulse’s pass which deflected off Duffy had been knocked on.

It was a frustrating day for Town, Franco Kmet booting the ball high into the air after another case of dropsy a few minutes from time but they did show recover to claim a point as Dean Burgess charged over with Swinton again losing concentration as time expired.

Swinton: Hulse 8, Frodsham 7, Bamford 7, Williamson 6, Billy 7, Hawkyard 6, McGovern 7, Line 7, Sykes 8, Tyrer 6, Rigby 7, Johnson 7, Moana 6,
Subs: Gibson 6, Ashall 8, Ball 7, Raftery 7

Tries: McGovern 36, Ashall 43, 53, Williamson 47, Sykes 64, Hulse 76,

Goals: Hawkyard 4

Drop goals: McGovern 72

Workington: Duffy 5, Dawes 7, McCully 6, Mossop 7, Routledge 6, Forber 7, Poisel 6, Young 6, Lunt 6, Burgess 7, Campbell 7, Miller 7, Kmet 6
Subs: Purdham 6, Tunstall 7, Robinson 7, Benjafield 6

Tries: Dawes 18, 31, Lunt 40, Burgess 80

Goals: Forber 4

Referee: Ronnie Laughton

Attendance: 367

Half Time: 6-18

Penalties: 13-13

Man of the Match: Craig Ashall (Swinton)

Match Rating 4/5

Weather: Hot with slight breeze

I Mean It! TWO Wins In A Row...!

And here's what The Advertiser got...


Swinton Lions consolidated the seventh and final play off place in National League 2 by completing the double over the side below them in the table, Workington Town at Park Lane.

The Lions are a team suffering from a multiple personality disorder, as they proved for forty minutes here, they can be almost irresistible with the ball in hand, while as they demonstrated in the first half, they can also be terribly average.

Workington however showed great determination and stamina in the hot conditions, to claim a bonus point by scoring with the final play of the game in both halves.

Referee Ronnie Laughton drew great ire from the home support by trying to keep a tight rein on proceedings but both sides exacerbated the situation by repeat offending particularly when it came to offside.

Swinton handed a debut to new signing and local lad Paul Raftery, his power and aggression will certainly come in handy with the tough battles ahead.

Raftery however sat and watched the start with the rest of the basking crowd as Town threatened to score with the first possession, Jason Mossop denied by Laughton who saw a grounded Bryce Poisel slip him the pass.

That aside, there was little to comment upon in the opening stages, apart from much dropping of the ball and there being a penalty a minute for the opening ten minutes, as both sides repeatedly encroached on the ten yards.

Only Workington took advantage though, Carl Forber booting a penalty goal on nine minutes.

The Lions should have benefited more when Stephen Dawes could only parry Gary Hulse’s kick but Neil Rigby knocked on near the line on just the second tackle of the set.

Town went further in front as despite a fantastic tackle from Rigby to deny ex-Lion Jay Duffy, Forber astutely chipped over the Lions on the next tackle for Stephen Dawes to happily receive an easy try.

Swinton were making precious headway as the penalties thankfully dried up, Darren Bamford intercepted a Forber pass but couldn’t hold on with an open field ahead of him.

Workington then worked some lovely interpassing down the right flank culminating in Dawes racing in for his second which Forber again goaled.

If Liam McGovern wasn’t so expertly positioned to reel in a Forber pass bound for a supporting Town man, they could have roared away to a hefty win.

Instead McGovern was in the right place again to score at the other end after Martin Moana charged through the heart of the Town defence, Richie Hawkyard goaled.

Shaun Lunt then scored a tremendous individual try as the hooter sounded, powering through the wilting Lions defence.

Whatever was said and altered at half time was definitely well aimed as the Lions came out in the second half and blew Town away like a line of caravans in front of a Deep South tornado…

Just three minutes in, Raftery fed McGovern, who fed Chris Frodsham who showed great awareness of the touchline and somehow managed to find Bamford who delivered a one handed pass to Craig Ashall’s feet, he chipped it forward and with a nice bounce dived on it for a converted score.

Moana then almost sent Rob Line away but the pass was a fraction forward. Not to worry, another sublime try was soon to come. A quick play the ball, a tremendous pass from Gary Sykes missed out three players but sent Ben Williamson in at the corner.

Swinton were suddenly two adrift, Town nervously skewed a mysterious penalty wide before Ashall showed brilliant individual skill to chip and chase to score, Hawkyard matched it with a touchline adjacent goal.

Town had only themselves to blame as penalty after penalty lead to Hawkyard adding another two to the score for offside.

Another marginally forward pass denied Neil Rigby and the Lions soon after but they crafted another excellent score. Hulse’s pass out of the backdoor found McGovern who placed a grubber beautifully for Sykes to outpace the cover and Moana to the ball, Hawkyard inexplicably missed from near the posts.

It looked like Town wouldn’t even get a bonus point as first McGovern potted a drop goal from beneath the sticks and then when Duffy fumbled McGovern’s bomb, Hulse coolly kicked ahead and dived on it.

There was another certain try for Rob Ball wiped off after the ref thought Hulse’s pass which deflected off Duffy had been knocked on.

It was a frustrating day for Town, Franco Kmet booting the ball high into the air after another case of dropsy a few minutes from time but they did show recover to claim a point as Dean Burgess charged over with Swinton again losing concentration as time expired.

Swinton: Gary Hulse, Chris Frodsham, Darren Bamford, Ben Williamson, Marlon Billy, Richie Hawkyard, Liam McGovern, Rob Line, Gary Sykes, Chris Tyrer, Neil Rigby, Bruce Johnson, Martin Moana
Subs: Darren Gibson, Craig Ashall, Rob Ball, Paul Raftery

Workington: Jay Duffy, Stephen Dawes, Mark McCully, Jason Mossop, Mark Routledge, Carl Forber, Bryce Poisel, Chris Young, Shaun Lunt, Dean Burgess, Ryan Campbell, Dexter Miller, Franco Kmet
Subs: Rob Purdham, Matt Tunstall, James Robinson, Ryan Benjafield

Referee: Ronnie Laughton

Attendance: 367

MOTM: Swinton: Craig Ashall, Workington: Ryan Campbell