Panthers mauled in second half frenzy.

Workington Town 50 Blackpool Panthers 12

Blackpool Panthers steady improvement as the season progresses came to a sudden and dramatic halt as Workington Town who have had a inconsistent season, finally got it right with a second half onslaught that few teams could have lived with.

It all started so well for the Panthers as Darryl Kaye finished off a fine handling move after 3 minutes that was converted by Matt Ashe who also landed a 7th minute penalty to leave the visitors with an early 8-0 lead.

A try from close range by Chris Young converted by Carl Forber reduced the arrears to 8-6 before Forber produced the try of the game with a eye catching run from 30 yards waltzing round four defenders to score close to the posts. He converted his own try to leave the home side with an hard earned 12-8 interval lead, this had only been maintained by a magnificent try saving tackle by fullback Jay Duffy as Matt Ashe looked certain to score.

The Panthers who had been very competitive in the opening period were blown away with some devastating rugby by Workington after the interval. It was in fact 9 minutes into the second half before the Panthers had possession of the football. In that time however the home side had ran in three tries by Posiel, Smith and Tunstall, two of which were converted by Forber to give them a 28-8 lead. To compound this the Panthers Chris Ratcliffe was despatched to the sin bin for a misdemeanour off the ball.

Workington continued to pile on the pressure as it looked as if the Panthers would wilt under the pressure. Further tries looked likely at any time and the Panthers cause was not assisted by a second half penalty count of 9-1 against them, one of these resulted in Andy Wallace being rather harshly shown the red card for an alleged spear tackle.

Workington were now rampant against a dispirited defence and ran in further tries by Tunstall, Forber and Brett Smith all converted by Forber to lead 40-8.

Chris Young then powered over with four defenders hanging on to score an unconverted try before the Panthers day was summed up when on a rare attack a Matt Ashe pass was intercepted and winger Davis raced 50 yards to score unopposed. Forber added his 7th goal and a personal tally of 22 points to claim the man of the match award.

It speaks volumes for the Panthers spirit that even after this second half mauling they still had the energy for John Gillam to score an unconverted try in the corner to bring the final score to 50-12.

The Panthers sorely missed the injured Lee Birdseye and departed Captain Paul Anderson and must regroup quickly for the midweek trip to Barrow the only side in the whole of Rugby League with a 100% record.

Team,
Leather, Gillam, Munro, Llewellyn, Weed, Ashe, Ashton, Warriner, Clough, Fairhurst, Kaye, Ratcliffe, Wallace (A).

Subs (all used)
Tunstead, Boland, Cocka, Barton.

Attendance 548.