Heads Held High as Cup Run Comes to a Close
Skirlaugh's memorable BARLA National Cup journey came to an end at the quarter-final stage as they were beaten 40-12 by a strong Ince Rose Bridge side in Wigan.
The opening 15 minutes were a real arm wrestle, with both sides completing well and neither prepared to give an inch. The deadlock was finally broken after 18 minutes when Skirlaugh failed to deal with a grubber kick close to their own line. The resulting error handed Ince a scrum 20 metres out, and from the ensuing set the home side's hooker dived over from dummy half to open the scoring.
Ince struck again soon after, this time through an attacking kick to the corner. Their winger brilliantly regathered before producing an outstanding offload back inside for his centre to finish in the corner. The conversion drifted wide, leaving the score at 10-0.
Skirlaugh responded superbly. A trademark attacking move from Lochlan Fitzgerald who caused Ince problems all day and put in some massive defensive efforts, put Barney Fishwick through a gap before the back-rower found Nathan Dunn in support. Dunn quickly returned the pass to Josh Atkinson, who finished well out wide. Josh Smith produced an excellent touchline conversion to reduce the deficit to 10-6 and breathe life into the contest.
The visitors continued to grow into the game, with Ross Kemp, Leo Tennison, Barney Fishwick and Harry Gotts producing a series of powerful carries to gain field position. A penalty just 15 metres from the Ince line presented an opportunity to reduce the score to 10-8 but Skirlaugh opted to run the ball and were denied when captain Josh Atkinson was held up over the line.
Ince responded immediately, rolling through the middle before earning a repeat set. Another attacking kick towards Skirlaugh's left edge caused confusion, and the home side reacted quickest to ground the loose ball. The conversion was added to give Ince a 14-6 advantage at the break.
The home side came out for the second half with greater intensity and quickly took control. Sustained pressure eventually told as they crossed beneath the posts to extend their lead to 20-6.
Moments later, another six-again call handed Ince more possession deep inside Skirlaugh territory, and they capitalised once again to move further clear at 26-6.
To their credit, Skirlaugh refused to go away. Matty Shepherdson posed a constant threat with ball in hand, while Matty King worked tirelessly to win valuable metres from yardage. The introductions of Marcus Hall and debutant Callum Smith helped slow Ince's momentum, and Skirlaugh enjoyed some of their best attacking spells of the afternoon, only to be denied by resolute defence close to the line.
Any hopes of a comeback were effectively ended when Freddie Watts was shown a yellow card for a high tackle. Ince took full advantage of the extra man, using their relentless middle-third dominance and ruck speed to score two further tries in the space of ten minutes.
Skirlaugh did have the final say. A clever offload from Marcus Hall sent fellow prop Callum Smith crashing over for a well-deserved try on his debut, providing a positive finish despite the 40-12 defeat.
On the day, Ince Rose Bridge proved too strong, too fast and maintained their high standards for longer periods. Skirlaugh bow out of the National Cup with plenty of pride after reaching the quarter-finals, a significant achievement that reflects the progress made by the club over the past 12 months.
Man of the Match: Lochlan Fitzgerald
Supporters Man of the Match: Callum Smith
Try Scorers
🏉 Josh Atkinson (
🏉 Callum Smith
Goals:
🎯 Josh Smith 2/2
Matt Danville's Thoughts
"Firstly, congratulations to Ince Rose Bridge. They were the better side on the day and deserved to go through.
"I thought the game was in the balance during the first half. We got ourselves back into it at 10-6 and had a big opportunity when Josh was held up over the line, but credit to Ince because they responded really well.
"The difference in the second half was their ruck speed. They generated quick play-the-balls, won the middle of the field and we just couldn't live with that for long enough. Against quality opposition, if you lose that battle, you're going to be under pressure.
"I'm disappointed because we're all competitive, but I'm certainly not disappointed in this group. Twelve months ago we finished near the bottom of the table and were taking some heavy defeats. This season we've reached the quarter-finals of the National Cup, we're guaranteed to finish no lower than second in the league, and we've completely changed the culture around the club.
"We'll take the lessons from this, park the disappointment and get straight back to our league campaign. There's still plenty to play for this season, and I know this group will respond the right way. With only 2 league games left and a rearranged fixture its important we keep fighting and turning up for eachother and keep the pressure on the league table, finish in the best position as possible for a healthier play off run”