Workington Town showed their quality late on as they inflicted a 48-18 defeat on North Wales Crusaders in their League 1 opener.
After falling 12-0 behind within the first ten minutes, Crusaders responded well and led 14-12 by the half hour mark.
However, Workington bagged two tries before half-time and North Wales struggled to get back into the game from there.
But they still matched their hosts for the majority of the match and a 30-point defeat was a harsh reflection on their performance.
Workington opened the scoring early on when Gordon Maudling hit a good line and crashed over from close range.
It didn’t take long for the hosts to build on their lead as Sean Penkywicz collected the ball out wide, cut inside and popped a short ball out to Oliver Wilkes for the forward to cross.
The response from Crusaders was positive, however, and they dominated for the next 20 minutes.
Murray’s side pulled one back when Warren Thompson managed to free the ball near the posts for Jack Houghton to touch down.
And North Wales drew themselves level a couple of minutes later as Thompson broke the line on halfway and found Danny Price in support to finish off the move.
The visitors then gained the lead for the first, with Kenny Baker kicking a penalty goal from in front of the sticks.
Workington grabbed two tries in the final stages of the first-half, however, to go in to the break 24-14 ahead.
Penkywicz handed the ball on to Perry Singleton for the centre to cross out wide, before Jamie Doran exploited a gap in Crusaders’ defence to touch down underneath the posts.
The hosts asked plenty of questions of North Wales early in the second-half and the pressure told eventually.
After Town had put in a grubber kick towards the right corner, the ball came free and Andy Dawson collected to finish out wide.
Karl Ashall protested the decision and was sent to the sin-bin for ten minutes for dissent.
However, Crusaders defended resolutely with 12 men and pulled one back through Joe Connor, who took advantage of offloads from Kenny Hughes and Ben Stead to bulldoze his way over down the right.
There was no comeback, though, as Workington showed their quality late on to kill off the game.
Penkywicz scooted over from acting half, before Carl Forber’s short ball sent Danny Tickle in from close range.
Tyllar Mellor completed the victory on the full-time hooter, rounding Crusaders’ left edge on his way to the line.
WORKINGTON
2 Tyllar Mellor
21 Innes Senior
3 Elliot Miller
4 Perry Singleton
20 Jonathan Walsh
6 Jamie Doran
7 Carl Forber
8 Oliver Wilkes
9 Sean Penkywicz
10 Stevie Scholey
12 Gordon Maudling
19 Caine Barnes
11 Danny Tickle
Subs:
14 Andy Dawson
15 Tom Curwen
22 Sam Hopkins
Colton Roche
Tries: Maudling (5), Wilkes (8), Singleton (36), Doran (39), Dawson (52), Penkywicz (69), Tickle (73), Mellor (80)
Goals: Forber (8/8)
CRUSADERS
1 Danny Price
2 Gavin Conroy
3 Dave Eccleston
4 Earl Hurst
5 Rob Massam
6 Steve Roper
23 Ben Stead
25 Callum Hazzard
15 Kenny Hughes
10 Warren Thompson
11 Joe Connor
12 Jack Houghton
13 Kenny Baker
Subs:
14 Karl Ashall
15 Brad Brennan
16 Simon Atherton
17 Jonny Walker
Tries: Houghton (18), Price (24), Connor (61)
Goals: Baker (3/4)
Referee: Andy Sweet
HT: 24-14
Penalties: 6-6
Crusaders MOTM: Warren Thompson
