Haven lose out at Swinton but show promise in Defeat
Haven travelled to South Manchester buoyed by their performance agains Warrington Wolves and including three new faces in loanee Tom McKinney NEW signing Cameron Brown and ex Barrow winger Max Anderson-Moore
The home side started well and on 6 minutes they broke down the left and fed the ball inside to the supporting Jordan Paga who touched down by the posts conversion was good . Haven came into it more after the opener and the strong wind was causing problems with the defenders as they tried to control the ball. Haven came into the game after that first 15 minutes and they opened their account when Ethan Bickerdike crossed on the right, but Kieran Tyrer was unable to add the conversion. Both sides then had chances at the line but handing let them down in the difficult conditions. The Lions went back in the lead twelve minutes from the break when a superb, angled run by Harry Higham saw the centre cut inside to race in under the posts and Abram added the conversion. . The half finished with both sides again having good chances but this time defences were on top The score at the hooter Swinton 12 Haven 4
It was Haven who made the good start in the second half and went close in the opening minutes but a knock on stopped them scoring but they did capitalise in the end when Aaron Turnbull took a couple of defenders with him to score by the posts and Tyrer converted this one. After that Haven dominated matters and created two clear cut scoring opportunities .
On 59 minutes Jack Newbigin made a good break on the right and with the line begging he held onto the ball rather than passing to supporting players . They then bombed a try on the left when Jordan Burns lost control of the ball going for the corner. The game could have gone either way and the defences were being tested but holding out well. One high kick by Haven caused major problems for the Lions defence as it was swirling and bouncing all over the place but in the end, Abram got it under control and cleared his line. The match winner for the Lions came with just under two minutes left when Abram put a high ball towards the line, and it was fumbled by a Haven defender and Higham was first to react to collect the ball and dive over on the right, but Abram was unable to convert, and the defences held out for the dying seconds.
Final Score Swinton Lions 16 Haven 10
Great effort and commitment from the Haven , their squad is coming together nicely , Was this our best squad ? I think so, with Keighley next up at the Recre there is definitely more to come
WHITEHAVEN
1 Jordan Burns 2 Mitchell Todd 3 Chris Taylor 4 Ethan Bickerdike 22 Max Anderson-Moore 6 Kieran Tyrer 26 Jack Newbegin
8 Jake Pearce 9 Ellison Holgate 10 Jordan Thomson 11 Connor Holliday 19 Rio McQuistan 13 Jack Kellett
Subs (all used) 14 Cameron Brown 17 Thomas McKinney 18 Aaron Turnbull 16 Brad Brennan Tries: Bickerdike (15), Turnbull 48) Goals: Tyrer 1/2