Local Bragging rights secured

In what was the first league meeting between the sides in two years, Crosfields earned local bragging rights against neighbours Woolston Rovers on Saturday.

Soap’s 36-18 victory at Hood Lane made it two wins from three under the stewardship of new head coach Rob Campbell, who is being assisted by Warrington Wolves hooker and former Crosfields junior Danny Walker.

They sit second in National Conference League Division One as a result while a second loss in three games means newly-promoted Rovers are down in seventh.

The hosts got off to a red-hot start, with Jamie Abram burrowing over from dummy half to open the scoring after just three minutes and it was his bullet pass that sent Matty Barber crashing over to put Soap 14-0 up after Dylon Braddish had finished a slick handling move for the second try.

Woolston got themselves on the board when Dan Fearnley caught and grounded Dec Leonard’s clever kick, but Crosfields would have the final say of the half when Nathan Taylor scored in the left corner.

With an 18-6 half-time lead, the hosts picked up where they left off as Braddish grabbed his second try in the right corner before his opposite winger Aaron Holliday then got himself on the scoresheet, profiting from a long ball from full-back Corey Lee.

There was then a Rover's riposte, with Harry Files racing home from 30 metres before Joe Roper did similar following a Crosfields error. Leonard converted both to narrow the deficit to just eight points.

However, Soap finished the game strongly and Taylor’s second try effectively meant it was game over, but they added a late exclamation point when Holliday broke and found Brad Stanway in support to race over.

Crosfields are on the road on Saturday as they make the short trip to Ince Rose Bridge while Woolston are back on home soil as they welcome Hull Dockers to Monk Sports Club.

Crosfields: Corey Lee; Dylon Braddish, Joe Kohe-Love, Nathan Taylor, Aaron Holliday; Ben Steele, Brad Stanway; Tom Millington, Jamie Abram, Tom Brown, Alex Clutterbuck, Sam Worrall, Sam Hickey. Subs: Jack Williams, Tom Ashurst, Matty Barber, Tom Smith

Woolston: James Tarpey; Alex Pendlebury, Ben Dixon, Tom Byrne, Sean Kelly; Joe Roper, Dec Leonard; Harry Files, Ryan Brown, Jackson Phillips, Ethan Jones, Dan Fearnley, Kieran Moore. Subs: Adam Files, Jay-Jay Catterall, Lewis Dawson, Andy Addison