Woolston Rovers produced a superb display to claim a brilliant victory over high-flying Ince Rose Bridge in an exciting National Conference League Division One fixture at the Limestone Construction Field, Monk Sports Club on Friday evening.

Ince Rose Bridge opened the scoring in the fifth minute when an inside ball from second row Casey Shaw found stand off Kieron Eccleston who went over from close range at the left of the posts. Loose forward Robbie Valentine converted and then straight from the restart second row Kyle Malone made a break down the right wing that split the Rovers defence and his inside ball found R Valentine who raced forty metres to score under the posts and give himself an easy conversion.

Rovers hit back just before the midway point of the half when from a scrum on the Ince twenty metre line they sent the ball through five pairs of hands and reached winger Alex Pendlebury who scored in the left corner. Stand off Craig Lawton converted from the touchline and then four minutes later they ran the ball on the last tackle and centre Ben Dixon found Pendlebury who squeezed over in the left corner.

Two minutes before the break Rovers hit the front for the first time when full back James Tarpey went from dummy half and burrowed his way over at the left of the posts. Lawton converted to give his side a 16-12 half time lead.

Rose Bridge went back ahead two minutes into the second half when a long kick down field on the last tackle by Eccleston bounced awkwardly and winger John Holcroft collected and put Shaw over on the left. R Valentine converted but then eight minutes later Rovers took the lead once again as a brilliant pass from dummy half from Tarpey was collected by substitute Ryan Palin who twisted in the tackle to score at the side of the posts with three men on him. Lawton added the conversion.

Rovers moved further ahead shortly afterwards when substitute Andy Addison was held just short and Tarpey scooted from dummy half to score under the posts. Dixon converted but then with five minutes remaining Ince ensured a grandstand finish when quick hands close to the line saw Malone score on the right. R Valentine added the conversion to reduce the deficit to four points.

With the final play of the game Rovers ensured that their six game losing streak was at an end as quick hands created space for Pendlebury to score in the left corner to complete a fine hat trick and give the Green & Gold men a thrilling and richly deserved 32-24 win.

The Man of the Match was awarded to Rovers prop forward Jackson Phillips. He was very well supported by full back James Tarpey, who played the majority of the game at hooker, and loose forward Harry Files.

After the game Rovers NCL Head Coach Liam Lawton said, “I am absolutely delighted that we got back to winning ways in such a difficult game. Ince have been the form team in the league over the past two months, winning their previous five games, so for us to beat them was a great achievement and will hopefully give us confidence for the rest of the season. Even though we went 12-0 behind early on we never panicked or lost focus and gradually we started to turn the screw and get the upper hand. We had a few players back which made all the difference and the strength from the bench really did help us to remain on the front foot.”

ROVERS

James Tarpey, Alex Pendlebury, Callum Harnett-Smy, Ben Dixon, Ben Roberts, Craig Lawton, Sean Kelly, Ben Crewe, Adam Files, Jackson Phillips, Kieran Moore, Dan Fearnley, Harry Files.

Subs: Ethan Jones, Andy Addison, Ryan Palin, Jake Proudlove.

Tries
Pendlebury (17 mins, 21, 80), Tarpey (38, 56), Palin (49).

Goals
Lawton 3
Dixon 1

BRIDGE

Peter Valentine, John Holcroft, Ben Holcroft, Kallem Rodgers, Kian Aaron, Kieron Eccleston, Mason Fillingham, Jack Morrison, Byron Aspinall, Reece Cunningham, Kyle Malone, Casey Shaw, Robbie Valentine.

Subs: Lewis Gladwin, Boyd Wilson, Brodie Butler, Keegan Boyd.

Tries
Eccleston (5 mins), R Valentine (7), Shaw (41), Malone (76).

Goals
R Valentine 4

Referee: Josh Pemberton.