Morley were more than in the game in the first half and had certainly come looking to play a bit of rugby, regularly running the ball from deep and keeping possession rather than kicking. The 13-6 scoreline at the break could have looked very different had goal-kicker Simon Bradshaw been able to find his range - the winger could only manage 2 successes from his 5 penalty attempts, ironically slotting the two most difficult kicks.

After two of those misses, the second hitting the upright, we got the first try of the afternoon with a trademark Foreman break from the base of a ruck. So often this season Andrew Foreman has been the man to provide such a break but with his injury allowing brother Gareth to step up to scrum-half it was his turn to slip through a tackle, round the full-back and score a fine solo try. As good as the try was it owed a lot to an interesting decision from the visitors to take a tap penalty from their own goal line moments earlier which allowed us to keep the pressure on after a good period of possession.

Waites added a simple penalty shot on 28 minutes after strong carrying from Andrew Davies, Michael Hogan and Liam Bailey before Bradshaw’s two shots pegged us back.

Deep in injury time Waites coolly slotted a drop goal to give us a bit more breathing space going into the break.

The second half was somewhat more one-sided and whilst Morley continued to tackle well, our pressure gradually wore them down and as the game broke up, gaps began appearing in the defensive line for us to exploit. Twice earlier in the game Waites had made half-breaks and almost slipped an off-load away and it was a case of third time lucky when he freed his arms and fed Davies to crash over 8 minutes into the half.

The impact of Stephen Stockdale off the bench took its toll and his ever-effective ball carrying helped generate an overlap on the left which Greg Edwards took full advantage of to go over by the corner flag just four minutes later.

Adam Coates pressed his case for a move from the front row to the centres as he popped up in midfield cutting a nice angle through the Morley defence, racing 35 metres for a memorable score.

Fellow front row colleague Liam Bailey wasn’t to be outdone and he found himself on the right wing, cutting inside his man and showing good pace to finish off the final try of the afternoon 10 minutes from time.

Another home win keeps our impressive record at Brinkburn going and more of the same will be on order for next week’s visitors Beverley - another side fighting to avoid the drop and desperately in need of points to chase down Penrith who were surprise winners today against Rossendale.


West: Larkin, Butcher, A Cheslin, Watson (Moss), Edwards, Waites, G Foreman, Hogan, Bailey, Coates (C Robinson), Davies, Lloyd (Stockdale), D Boatman, J Boatman, Eddy.

Tries: G Foreman, Davies, Edwards, Coates, Bailey
Cons: Waites 4
Pen: Waites
DG: Waites

YC: Hogan [37]

Morley: Moon, Clough, Wall, Marshall, Bradshaw, Evans, Burnell, Bell, Greatrix, Benn, Hanson, Richmond, Scott, Hewetson, Stephen Costello.
Reps: Dinsdale, Ashford, Stuart Costello.

Pens: Bradshaw 2

Referee: Dean Lythgoe [Northern Group]