Cornwall RLFC

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Betfred League 1 Round-Up

May 1, 2022

Oldham v Cornwall
Cornwall’s Coby Nichol in action against Oldham – Dave Murgatroyd

Just four games took place in Betfred League 1 last weekend with Doncaster’s trip to West Wales called off.

The Raiders were unable to find suitable medical cover for the visit of Richard Horne’s men and the game was subsequently awarded as a 48-0 win for the Yorkshire outfit.

The weekend’s fixtures started on Saturday with Cornwall’s opponents today Rochdale Hornets travelling to the capital to take on London Skolars. 

Although the Spotland side came away with a 56-22 win, they were made to work hard for the two competition points by the capital side. Skolars took an early lead when Aaron Small chased his own kick through to touch down.

However, Rochdale came back strongly with tries from Tom Ashton (2), Ben Calland, Greg McNally and Fuifui MoiMoi to lead comfortably. Small grabbed his and London’s second of the afternoon before the interval but at 28-12 ahead, Rochdale were always in the driving seat.

Leighton Ball grabbed the first points of the second half for London to give them hope but back came Rochdale again as four further tries from Gavin Bennion, Ben O’Keefe, Lewis Sheridan and Callum Marriott sealed victory. 

London, who were spirited throughout, grabbed a consolation score just after the hour mark through winger Abevia McDonald.

North Wales Crusaders remain at the summit with a 100 per cent record but they were given a huge fright by MIdlands Hurricanes in Colwyn Bay on Sunday.

It looked like business as usual for Anthony Murray and his side when tries from Alex Eckley and Gav Rodden, alongside one Tommy Johnson goal gave the hosts a 10-0 lead. 

But the Hurricanes came storming back as Ben Stead and Liam Welham crossed before half time. Two goals from Benn Hardcastle, one of which was a successful penalty conversion, then gave Midlands a 12-10 interval advantage.

In a real nip and tuck affair, Rodden’s second of the afternoon put North Wales back in front and Johnson’s try 12 minutes from time put a little daylight between the two teams.

Midlands weren’t quite done yet and a Hardcastle try, converted by the same player, set up a grandstand finish. But the home side held on, just, to preval 22-18. 

Keighley also have a 100 per cent record after they inflicted a second successive defeat on Swinton Lions at Cougar Park.

A powerful first half showing from Keighley saw them race into a 20-0 lead. Full-back Lewis Young grabbed the first try for Keighley after an early Jack Miller penalty had got the home side up and running. Winger Mo Agoro and Miller also registered four-pointers as the home side were dominant.

And despite the points not flowing as freely for Keighley in the second stanza, they went on to score twice more through Agoro and Charlie Graham.

The 30-0 reverse for Swinton was not helped by both Jack Gregson and Deane Meadows spending time in the sin bin.

Cornwall were once again on the road and a crowd of 621 saw the Choughs lose 48-22 at Oldham Roughyeds.

Owen Restall and Logan Astley both grabbed braces for Oldham who led 30-6 at the break – Liam Whitton with Cornwall’s only try, converted by Kyle Johns.

The second period was a much tighter affair with Cornwall scoring three tries. Harry Aaronson, playing on his old stomping ground, crossed twice while Anthony Mullally powered over late on to complete the visitors’ scoring.