Northallerton Stallions 66 Winlaton Warriors 18

NORTHALLERTON Stallions opened their second season in the Co-operative Rugby League performance with a 66-18 victory over new boys Winlaton Warriors.

Four tries each for man of the match Rob Johnson and full-back Craig Sykes were the foundation of the victory with Johnson tagging on nine conversions to finish with a personal tally of 34 points on the day.

Johnson opened the scoring just before the quarter mark when he gathered a neat chip through to score underneath the posts, giving himself an easy conversion.

This was followed five minutes later when outstanding second row Adam Lonsdale burst through the defensive line to score the first of his brace, Johnson again adding the extras.

A determined Warriors outfit hit back on 25 minutes when hooker John Winter punished poor Stallions marker defence to cross close in.

A close-range try from Sykes, converted by Johnson, gave the home side an 18-6 lead before consecutive penalties provided Winlaton with good field position.

Once again a lapse in the home defence was exploited as Trevor Murdie brought the Warriors back within six points. An entertaining first half was brought to a spectacular close when Johnson intercepted in his own half and raced 70 metres to touch down giving the Hambleton Ales-sponsored Stallions a 24- 12 interval lead.

Lonsdale’s second unconverted try increased the lead shortly after the break but the enthusiastic new boys rallied again and were rewarded with a try for hardworking prop Kevin Scott.

Unfortunately, that was the last points for the visitors as the heat and lack of interchange options began to take its toll. Northallerton took advantage of this to dominate the remainder of the half with further tries from Sykes (3) Johnson (2) Tuley and a debut try for centre Mark Ball taking the final score to 66-18 in favour of the hosts.

Stallions head coach Steve Worsnop was pleased with the outcome. He said: “I am obviously delighted that the boys got a win in their first league outing. I was particularly happy with the defensive improvement since our friendly against Gateshead last month.

“Apart from a few lapses we were generally quicker off the line and more physical in the collision. We have worked hard on this area in training over the past few weeks so to see it transfer to the playing field was encouraging.

“However I have stressed to the players the importance of not getting carried away with this one result. We need to keep things in perspective.

Winlaton are a new club and they didn’t have all the interchange options available today. We know how that is because we went through the same thing last season.

“We will need to continue improving our defensive work as the challenges will increase as the season progresses and I expect Winlaton to be a different proposition when we visit them in June.”

Next up for the Stallions is a visit to another new side – Hartlepool – tomorrow. They will be without the services of props Peter Eke and Kevin Quigg and second rows Gareth Smith and Gavin Cole, but will welcome back centre Mike Sheeran and pivotal players Steve Horsley and Don Payne.