Dominant Haven progress in Challenge Cup

Whitehaven won this Challenge Cup 5th round clash in emphatic fashion this afternoon, defeating York City Knights 38-12 at the LEL Arena with a strong first-half showing setting the platform.

Haven made only one change from the side that won comfortably against Dewsbury last time out with James Newton coming in for the injured Chris Taylor .

Haven received the kick off and spilled the kick giving the visitors a great attacking position but Haven defended that well and came back to score their first try of the afternoon with Andrew Bulman the beneficiary. Half-back Alex-Bishop failed to convert from the touchline and, with the Cumbrians leading by four, the two sides went set for set before the hosts, once again, began to create some pressure with strong drives.

Haven grew into the game and extended their lead on 23 minutes after a fortunate ricochet try. Nikau Williams’ grubber hit Jacob Ogden’s shins before deflecting off Connor Holliday’s and the Whitehaven man was first to the ball in the in-goal area. Bishop converted and the Haven led by ten with twenty-five minutes on the clock.

The final ten minutes of the first period would then take the game away from the Knights with three tries. First, Ryan King shrugged off the attentions of the Knights defence to score before breaking the line minutes later, drawing in full-back Harrison and passing to Geronimo Doyle. The third of a devastating ten-minute spell came with seconds remaining when Williams’ grubber held up in the mud and the half-back beat Harrison to the loose ball to score, leaving the half-time score 28-0 to the hosts.

With a big second half required, the Knights started with Ford’s words ringing in their ears. O’Hagan, who entered the field around the half-hour mark, got the Knights on the scoreboard with a try that saw him jink through the line before going over under the sticks. Liam Harris converted and made the score 28-6 after forty-eight minutes.

York tried hard to get back into the game for the next 15 minutes but resolute Haven defence kept their linr intact but then the tables turned and Whitehaven took the game away from the Knights.

As repeat sets and set restarts went Havens way s, Marsh and Davis were penalised for infractions in the tackle, the Knights had several sets on our own line to deal with and the Cumbrians broke our defensive line with King. The ball from the Australian went towards our line and, with the officials deeming a Knights hand knocked it backwards, the ball was grounded by Connor Holliday and Bishop converted to extend the hosts’ lead to 34-6.

On the 76th minute, Holliday scored his second of the afternoon to put the final nail in the Knights coffin.

In the last minute, however, it was the Knights who scored the last points of the match with Joe Brown scoring Harris converted to make it 38-12 but it was the Haven who deservedly took this tie and progress to the 6th round and a game potentailly against Super League opposition

Haven take early lead on Tyneside but then fall to Nine try Defeat

Whitehaven conceded nine tries in a disappointing fade-out at Kingston Park where they lost 40-24 to Newcastle Thunder.

After last weeks win at London Haven started this clash in a confident mood and looked with a large travelling support in attendance they started so positively

Haven raced into a 12 nil lead in the first quarter with converted trys from Ryan King and Tom Wilkinson . The Thunder then hit back with four quickfire trys to take the lead 16-12 before Haven struck back with trys by Alex Bishop and Callum Phillips both converted and Haven were in Front 24-16 at the break

But that was a good as it got for Haven they didn’t score a single point in the second-half when Thunder scored five trys and 24 unanswered points and came back strongly to win with room to spare. A really bad 40 mins

Haven Jonty Gorley was a very frustrated coach in his post game interview , He said that the overall peformance was ” Just not good enough” and that he was “embarressed” at the second half performance from his charges .

Next weeks Challenge Cup Ties at Doncaster on this showing is looking like a potential banana skin for Haven but a resolute Jonty Gorley said that “Attitudes need to change ” and that this week he was looking for a” reaction not words ” from his squad threatening a number of personnel changes for this clash ,

Strong words indeed !

Whitehaven gained their first win of the 2022 season with a close but deserved victory over London Broncos at the modern Plough Lane stadium in Wimbledon .

Both teams went into this game having played two lost two games , Haven coach Jonty Gorley had said in the build up that Haven could win this game if they played clever and and kept the mistakes to a minimum . Against this the Broncos were playing at home and had not lost a home clash with the Haven since 1990 .

The game kicked off in wet windy conditions and given both sides patchy start to the season good attacking football was going to be at a premium . It was hardly surprising that the first half ended scoreless 40 mins played and it was Nil all .

The game having developed into an arm wrestle and the weather showing no sign of abating , then the first score was always going to be crucial to the final result

After 46 mins Haven pressed the home line and put in a grubber kick which Havens Connor Holliday got to first to touchdown , Alex Bishop added the goal and it was Haven who made that opening score , But could they maintain that ?

The answer was Yes ! Haven showed good game management to keep the home team at arms length . A penalty in injury time converted by Alex Bishop as the final hooter sounded made the final score London Broncos nil Haven 8

Not a pretty win but two points thank you ! Haven will travel to Newcastle next Saturday with this win as a massive confidence boost

Haven lose to no frills Raiders as they struggle in the wintry conditions in their opening home clash of the 2020 season .

Having lost heavily at Leigh last week this game was seen as the ideal game for Haven to open their Championship account for 2022 but a combination of atrocious winter weather and a determined Raiders outfit conspired to frustrate the Haven ambitions .

The tone for the first half was set from the start as Haven made a mess of the kick off ,losing the ball and setting up for the Raiders to cross the home line with only 2 minutes played for a converted try Haven nil Raiders 6.

The visitors boosted by that , dominated the next 10 minutes with ex Haven coach Carl Foster to the fore ! On 12 mins Havens Guy Graham put in a high shot on Foster and was given 10 mins in the sin bin , Shaw converted the penalty to extend the lead to 8 nil . The next 10 mins were to prove pivotal as Barrow made full use of their numerical advantage.

Foster and another ex Haven man Ellis Gillam found the gap in the Haven defence to set up a try by Winger Shaw which he converted converted , Haven nil Barrow 12 ,

On 19 Mins Haven allowed Malloudi to run 30 yards through some skinny defence for a converted try , Haven nil Raiders 18 . With wind rain and hailstones lashing the LEL arena Haven now had to play catch up rugby in the worst possible conditions .

Restored back to 13 men Haven defence tightened considerably but on the wet muddy ground Haven half backs just couldn’t create anything so at the half it was Haven nil Barrow Raiders 18 , but with Stack being sent to the bin on 39 mins Haven would have a numerical advantage at the start of the second half .

Haven had to come out for the second half with purpose and indeed thats what we got , However despite being a player down the visitors always had the measure of a one dimensional Haven attack ,

It was Haven who enjoyed more possession and better field position for long periods but the Barrow pack well led by Carl Foster always had the better of their Haven counterparts . On 59 mins Haven gave their fans a glimmer of hope when Conner Holliday went over for an unconverted try toe make it Haven 4 Barrow Raiders 18

The visitors managed the final quarter of the game very professional to make sure their was never seriously threatened . And in the end no one could deny them the spoils as they took two valuable Championship points back down the coast at the end of the game

For Haven lots of effort but not much skill on show as the Haven Half backs struggled in alien conditions meaning good attacking options were few and far between . Official Man of the Match was Callum Phillips though Geronimo Doyle deserves some praise for his enthusiasm and willingness to get involved from Full back

On the evidence of today still a lot of improvement to some from Haven 2022 , That needs to happen soon as they now haven two difficult away trips to deal withe – London Broncos and then Newcastle Thunder

Big Spendering Centurions have too much firepower for Haven who have not won in this fixture since 2009

Leigh eased to an emphatic 50-4 win over Whitehaven at the Leigh Sports Village. Papua New Guinea international Nene Macdonald scored a hat-trick on his official debut for the Centurions. Kieran Dixon, Caleb Aekins, Keanan Brand, Tom Nisbet (2) and Mark Ioane crossed for the hosts.

Leigh led 28-0 at half time and kicked-off the second period against 10-men after referee James Child sin binned Jake Moore, Andrew Bulman and Callum Phillips in quick succession.

With ‘Haven back to full strength for the last quarter, they worked hard to stymie the Centurions in the remainder of the tie limiting them to only two further scores in that time . Haven avoided a whitewash when Aussie Will Evans crossed after 54 minute

For Haven DIon Aiye stood up and played hard against bigger and stronger opponents while Geronimo Doyle at full back looked useful .

Haven will just be glad to get this game out of the way and focus on their home opener against Barrow next Sunday

Haven lose out in Second pre season game

Swinton Lions came out on top in a highly entertaining game on a freezing afternoon.Haven picked as 21 man squad giving a first run out for Geronimo Doyle ,Will Evans , Ryan King , Liam Cooper , Jake Bradley and Keiron Hudson

Richard Lepori and Will Evans had early chances for their respective sides before Liam Cooper linked with Evans to score the opening try for Haven crossing by the posts on seven minutes and Alex Bishop converted. Bishop then had a good chance seven minutes later when he broke through only to lose the ball in a good position. The Lions hit back to level the scores when Louis Brogan scored under the posts after some good pressure, and this was converted by Dan Abram and the Lions took the lead on twenty minutes when Brogan sent Abram racing through a gap and he fed the ball to the supporting Lewis Else who beat a tackle to score on the left with Abram converting again.

Nikau Williams locked the scores at twelve all fifteen minutes from the break when he wriggled over from short-range following pressure on the line from a penalty and Bishop converted and with five minutes to go before the break Dave Eccleston escaped a tackle to score right in the corner, but Bishop could not convert from the touchline. Will Hope thought he had scored for the Lions just a few minutes into the second half, but he was offside. Half Time Lions 12 Haven 16

Haven went back into the lead on fifty-one minutes when Kieran Hudson went over from a short pass by Bishop and the provider added the conversion to stretch the lead. Geronimo Doyle made a good break on fifty-three minutes only to be hunted down by Ben Heyes and from this passage of play the Lions went back up field and some good play by Rhodri Lloyd and Jack Hansen sent him over for the try to which Hansen converted. Four minutes later the Lions took the lead when Heyes sidestepped his was though a cluster of defenders to score by the posts and Hansen converted.

Tom Walker got over the line for Haven with twelve minutes left but was judged offside and the Lions had another chance when Andrew Bulman was forced dead in goal. The match winning try came with five minutes left when Mitch Cox scored on the left but Hansen was unable to convert

After the game Haven Coach Jonty Gorley put the defeat down to an increasing number of Unforced errors in the second half but said he was encouraged with a number of individual peformances on the day

WHITEHAVEN

  1 Geronimo Doyle ,   2 Dave Eccleston ,   4 Will Evans ,   6 Karl Dixon   5 Andrew Bulman 23 Alex Bishop   7 Nikau Williams 18 Guy Graham   9 Callum Phillips 10 Tom Walker 11 Ryan King 12 Liam Cooper 20 Jake Bradley

Subs (all used) 13 Dion Aiye 17 Andrew Dawson 15 Connor Holliday

21 Kieran Hudson   8 Liam McAvoy 19 Jake Moore 14 James Newton

16 Tom Wilkinson