Moor blitz Workington in table-topping clash.

Shelley couplet spells poetry as Zebras devoured in first half.

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The visitors to Green Lane on Saturday were second-placed Workington and it was vital for Moor to reverse their narrow loss when the teams met earlier in the season if they intended to stay in contention at the top of the division.  

The home side was the livelier of the two in early exchanges and within a couple of minutes, scrum-half Shaun Stirrup had kicked a penalty to take the lead. Moor continued to press and extended the lead when a rehearsed move from a ruck found the ball being recycled down the blind side for left-winger Martin Shelley to take the final pass to score, the try being converted by Stirrup. Workington then began to exert some pressure and were rewarded with a penalty after 15 minutes, but the kick was wide, as had been another earlier attempt. Moor then broke out of their 22 with a finely judged kick from fly-half Martin Snidal and from a resultant scrum, a miss-move along the back line to veteran full-back Phil Butcher, joining at pace, provided an overlap for inside centre Nik Pearson to run around, take a well-timed pass and step inside his defender to score under the posts; the conversion being a formality for Stirrup. The home side then had the handicap of having a player yellow-carded but still managed to shut out the opposition and within a few minutes of regaining a full fifteen, had scored a third try. This came after Moor had been awarded a free kick some 30 metres out from the Workington line and after a couple of phases of play, the ball was fed along the three-quarter line, with both Pearson and Butcher again featuring as the latter fed Shelley who rounded his opposite number to score his second try out wide, with Stirrup adding the conversion from the touch line. With a couple of minutes to go before the break, the visitors finally got on the score sheet with a penalty goal. Almost immediately, Stirrup had a chance to nullify this with one of his own, but was just wide as Moor reached the interval 24-3 up.  

The lead was stretched soon after the restart as outside centre Petr Stourac chipped over the advancing defence, caught the ball on the full and powered to the line, the conversion being missed. With most of the second half remaining it appeared as if Moor would increase their advantage even further but this was not to be as Workington began to take control of the game by using their larger forwards to good effect. They kept the ball within the pack for most phases of play and midway through the half this eventually paid off as, after a series of rucks near to the Moor line, their Number 8 crashed over for a converted try. This try count was doubled with just 10 minutes of the match remaining when a quickly taken tap penalty resulted in another try for the oppositions’ forwards, again converted. This could have set up a tight finish, but Moor actually ended the game on the ascendancy and could have scored another try had the correct option been taken. In the event, a missed penalty deep into injury time by Stirrup meant that Moor ran out comfortable 29-17 winners.  

This was a highly satisfying result for Moor especially their first half performance and whilst it has to be acknowledged that Workington were not at full strength, Moor were also missing key players from their back line, but the rearranged line-up did not seem to affect their play in any way and should bolster them for their next game on Saturday, away to Keswick, k.o.2:30 p.m.