Frank Reid Trophy

Roose Pioneers 30 Walney Central 10

A SECOND-half surge from Roose Pioneers saw them triumph in the Frank Reid Trophy final at Craven Park.

There was nothing to choose between the sides at half-time, with them going in deadlocked at 10-10 and both having a man sent to the sin-bin.

But a tap-and-go from a 20-metre restart by Jack Torkington, which saw him go the length of the field for a try 15 minutes into the second half, proved the catalyst for Roose to kick on and despite Walney’s young side battling right to the last, there was no way back for them.

The game was barely three minutes old when Walney took the lead, working their way up field from a penalty and getting the first try courtesy of Dec Gavin scooting from dummy-half after Jacob Helyer had been stopped just short of the Roose line, followed by Josh Holmes converting.

Pioneers’ cause was not helped by one or two errors and penalties going against them, but a forward pass by Walney and then them straying offside allowed the Redwaters outfit to exert some pressure which paid off on 16 minutes when Dillan Taputu forced his way over for an unconverted try.

But several penalties against Roose for high tackles led to them being placed on a team warning and soon after they lost Ade White to the sin-bin for a tip tackle.

Walney duly made the most of their numerical advantage and although Danny O’Neill was held up over the line, there was no stopping Matty McBain as he burst through the Roose defence for an unconverted try in the 25th minute.

Yet despite temporarily being a man down, Pioneers moved swiftly up field and a strong carry from prop Taputu led to fellow cross-code player Corne Els barging his way over for his side’s second unconverted try six minutes later.

Then it was Cents’ turn to lose a man to the sin-bin when Jack Rushton was shown a yellow card for dissent in the 38th minute, with Roose stand-off Steve Perry slotting over the resulting conversion to level the scores.

The score remained 10-10 at half-time and eight minutes into the second half, Pioneers’ Lee Moss had a try ruled out for a forward pass.

But on 55 minutes, Walney kicked the ball dead in-goal and some quick thinking from Roose full-back Torkington saw him take a tap restart and race the length of the field to score under the posts, giving Perry a simple shot at goal.

Then on the hour mark, a cross-field kick from Perry found Sam Dalton in acres of space out wide on the right, leaving him with the task of dotting the ball down – although the conversion attempt from out wide was missed.

Roose moved further in front on 65 minutes, with a break from Els leading to Moss setting up Dan White for a try which was converted by Joe Mulholland. And the other White made amends for his earlier yellow card with another unconverted score on the final play of the game.

MATCH FACTS

Roose Pioneers: Jack Torkington; Ronnie Neale, Ade White, Kristian Holmes, Lee Starkey; Steve Perry, Daryl Archer; Dillan Taputu, Dan White, Ethan James, Corne Els, Dan Sharp, Will Mallinson. Interchange: Lee Moss, Jake Vial, Sam Dalton, Joe Mulholland.

Walney Central: Elliot Bibby; Ellis Rea, Tom Lamb, Danny O’Neill, Liam Walsh; Josh Holmes, Joe McMullan; John James, Dec Gavin, Jordan Belcher, Matty McBain, Luke Harrison, Jacob Helyer. Interchange: Josh Beckman, Ross Cottam, Ash McAllister, Jack Rushton.

Referee: Nathan Johnson.

Playback: 3 – Gavin try, Holmes conv (0-6); 16 – Taputu try (4-6); 25 – McBain try (4-10); 31 – Els try (8-10); 38 – Perry pen (10-10); 55 – Torkington try, Perry conv (16-10); 60 – Dalton try (20-10); 65 – D White try, Mulholland conv (26-10); 80 – A White try (30-10).

Man of the match: Dan Sharp (Roose Pioneers)