Darville delivers goods on West Bowling return

WEST Bowling posted their first win in the Kingstone Press National Conference Division Two campaign with a sparkling 34-26 success against previously undefeated leaders Askam at Emsleys Rec.

Coach Glenn Barraclough started the former Hemel Stags and Keighley Cougar Liam Darville in the stand-off berth following his return to his former amateur club.

He quickly made his presence felt, instigating a swift passing move which saw hooker Kieran Baker reach the chalk for the opener.

The scoreboard took another turn for the better when wingman Joe Hammond sprinted over, leaving full back Ben Heald to add his second extras for a 12-0 lead.

Askam replied on the half hour with a converted try from wingman Zak Steel before the green and whites substitute Robert Booth made the whitewash and Heald converted to restore their advantage.

However, the visitors' quality was once again to the fore when second row forward Jake Speeding crossed and scrum half Adam Jackson made sure of full reward with the boot.

Wests wide man Isaac Khan glided in with less than a minute to the break for another vital touchdown to give the hosts deserved wriggle room at 22-12.

But the tenacious Cumbrians were firmly back in the hunt when packman Jordan Jones crossed five minutes after the restart.

The introduction of Bowling’s second Hemel signing Liam Coe, from the bench, boosted their attacking prowess to new heights, leading to two further tries from Booth and Khan.

They were both converted by the deadly boot of Heald to edge them into a match-winning 34-18 tally.

However, Askam refused to throw in the towel with centre Mark Tyson gliding over on the hour mark closely followed by Jackson to chip away the aggregate.

With less than ten minutes still to play, Wests lived up to their reputation of being able to close the game down efficiently.

With defence the order of the day and skilful man of the match Darville firmly in command of operations, they comfortably took the spoils in style.