Ady Mulcahy darts in to seal BARLA National Cup tie win for Sharlston Rovers over HM Prison Service side

Brendon Gibbins was one of Sharlston Rovers' stand-out players in their BARLA National Cup tie win against the HM Prison Service team.Brendon Gibbins was one of Sharlston Rovers' stand-out players in their BARLA National Cup tie win against the HM Prison Service team.
Brendon Gibbins was one of Sharlston Rovers' stand-out players in their BARLA National Cup tie win against the HM Prison Service team.
Sharlston Rovers A booked a place in the next round of the BARLA National Cup with a hard fought 18-14 win over a well drilled HM Prison Service side who took them all the way, with a blustery wind making a tough contest even harder.

HMP opened the scoring on four minutes when rewarded for some enterprising play as James Boughen went over in the corner and a good touchline conversion made it 6-0.

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The next 20 minutes were a tight affair with Rovers’ tough defence a feature, well led by Eddie Medforth and supported by Brendon Gibbins, Gary Smith and Sean Markey.

Sharlston put their first points on the board when a superb barnstorming run from Liam Kendall saw him brush aside four defenders to crash over for an unconverted try.

HMP scored again on the half-hour as Brendon Rawlings went over after a show and go near the line. But Rovers again took the game to the visitors with Michael Firth and Littlewood both going close before a good blind side play saw Michael Williams make a superb break then send player-coach Ady Mulcahy over with a well timed pass.

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In the second period Sharlston used the wind advantage to keep the Prison Service locked in their own half. Mulcahy was held up over the line after a good run from Ryan Butterworth, but the next play saw Pat Harrison’s neat ball allowing Medforth to show his power to burst over. Josh Beecher smashed the conversion over despite the difficult wind and Rovers were ahead for the first time on 48 minutes.

Both sides showed their strong defensive capabilities with Sam Whitehouse, Martyn Nicoll and Jakob Lupton working hard for the home side.

The visitors levelled eight minutes from time as Alex Clarke scored in the corner to set up a tense finish. But Rovers came straight back and gained good field position to mount a final onslaught. Ben Lyons, Butterworth and Medforth made good breaks before Nicoll made a good run and the resulting quick play the ball saw hooker Mulcahy dart out of the ruck to score the match clinching try.

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Best for Sharlston in a good team effort were Gibbins and Butterworth with Medforth taking the MotorCity Motorists Centre sponsored MOM award.

Rovers’ next scheduled game is round one of the BARLA National Cup away at Wigan-based Hindley on Saturday, February 12, 1.30pm kick-off.

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