Match Report: Goole Vikings

London Broncos 92 - 06 Goole Vikings

London Broncos recorded a 17-try victory over Goole Vikings at the Cherry Red Records Stadium. Alex Walker marked his 200th career appearance for the Broncos, having joined the club in 2014, with four tries. He has now scored 97 tries for London.

Goole made an early attacking start, aided by two penalties, but a chip towards the corner was knocked on by Tom Halliday. Another attack saw Cooper Howlett collect a kick from Jack Miller before losing possession, with Walker grounding the ball. London then attacked down the left, where Lennie Ellis tackled Elliot Wallis and forced the winger into touch.

The opening try came in the 11th minute. Reagan Campbell-Gillard, Gairo Voro and Jack Croft combined to put Walker over the line, with Voro converting.

Miller's restart bounced before going into touch, but Goole then lost possession after two tackles, 20 metres from the London line. The Broncos moved upfield and received a repeat set following a late hit on Marcus Stock. Stock passed to Dean Hawkins, whose ball put Alex Max through to score. Voro added the conversion.

Six minutes later, Voro, Stock and Hawkins combined again, with Hawkins' lofted pass sending Max over for his second try. Goole responded with another short kick-off, but an errant pass was collected by Robert Mathias. London moved the ball back downfield and, after Max was stopped short of completing his hat-trick, he passed to Teddy Davidson, who scored in the right corner.

Another short restart from Miller was collected by Goole, who lost possession after two or three tackles. London again moved downfield, with Hawkins passing to Walker for his second try. Voro converted.

Miller's next restart went beyond the intended area, allowing Davidson to collect and return the ball to halfway. A tip tackle gave London another set, from which Lewis Bienik broke through three defenders to score beside the posts. Voro converted.

Three minutes before half-time, London received a seven-tackle set after an Ellis kick rolled dead in-goal. Voro used a series of dummies involving Croft, Mathias and Wallis before crossing close to the posts. He converted his own try.

There was still time for London to add another try before the interval, with Walker completing his hat-trick following passes from Finley Glare and Hawkins.

From their first possession of the second half, Glare, Hawkins and Max combined to send Davidson over for his second try. Voro's conversion attempt was unsuccessful.

Max appeared to have completed his hat-trick shortly afterwards, but the try was disallowed after Epel Kapinias was ruled to have obstructed a defender as a dummy runner.

In the 51st minute, London moved the ball through Glare, Hawkins, Walker, Will Lovell, Kapinias, Voro and Bienek before Mathias crossed for his first try of the afternoon. Hawkins took over the goal-kicking duties and converted.

Goole responded in the 55th minute when Ellis intercepted a Voro pass intended for Croft and ran 60 metres to score. Miller converted.

Keenan Tomlinson then stopped Davidson from scoring his third try, forcing a knock-on. From the resulting scrum, Howlett's pass was intercepted by Mathias, who sent Voro over for his second try. Hawkins was unable to convert.

Hawkins then set up Ben Hursey-Hord with a delayed pass, giving the forward a clear run to the line. The conversion attempt was unsuccessful.

Glare returned from the bench and was involved immediately, releasing Croft, who passed to Walker for his fourth try. The possession had begun four tackles earlier, with Wallis tackled two metres from the London line by Liam Watts.

From the restart, London moved the ball left, with Sam Davis, Stock and Glare involved before Mathias ran through a gap to score his second try. Hawkins could not add the conversion.

Goole then stopped Davis close to the line, but a quick play-the-ball created another opportunity, with Bienek crossing to take London to 80 points.

In the final 90 seconds, Davis scored from close range for his first try of the season in his 14th appearance.

Goole's restart then went out on the full. Hawkins kicked to the 20-metre line and, after one tackle, the ball reached Emarly Bitungane. Despite several Goole defenders making contact, Bitungane crossed the line to complete the scoring. Walker was given the nod for the final conversion of game which was successful.

London Broncos: 22 Alex Walker, 2 Elliot Wallis, 4 Alex Max, 3 Robert Mathias, 27 Teddy Davidson, 23 Gairo Voro, 7 Dean Hawkins, 10 Emarly Bitungane, 9 Sam Davis, 8 Reagan Campbell-Gillard, 21 Will Lovell, 12 Jack Croft, 17 Marcus Stock

Replacements: 14 Finley Glare, 19 Ben Hurley-Hord, 24 Lewis Bienek 18th man: 11 Luke Smith

Tries: Walker (11, 29, 39, 68), Max (15, 21), Davidson (23, 42), Bienek (31, 76), Voro (37, 60), Mathias (51, 71), Hursey-Hord (65), Davis (79), Bitungane (80)

Goals: Voro 7/9; Hawkins 5/8

 Goole Vikings: 5 Callum Shaw, 2 Tom Halliday, 3 Cooper Howlett, 4 Keenan Tomlinson, 27 Leroy Ncube, 40 Lennie Ellis, 7 Jack Miller, 50 Owen Haldenby, 51 Morgan Punchard, 30 Liam Watts, 13 Harry Aldous, 12 Nick Staveley, 9 Jeylan Hodgson. Replacements: 8 Tyler Craig, 14 Oli Morgan, 17 Jack Coventry, – Ben Dent. 18th man: 1 Josh Guzdek. 

Tries: Ellis (55)

Goals: Miller 1/1

Match Report by David Ballheimer