Benson joy over victory

NEW boy Luke Stenchion passed his first Roughyeds test with flying colours, earning top marks for all-round efficiency from coach Tony Benson.

Starting from the bench, and replacing Jason Boults after 27 minutes, rock-solid Stenchion shared the front-row workload with Boults, Chris Clarke and Dave Ellison, and played his part impressively in laying a foundation for this first Roughyeds victory in four outings.

"He fitted in well — so well that he looked as though he had always been there," said Benson. "It didn't surprise me because we always knew what he could do, that's why we've been chasing him since last pre-season. You've got to remember also that this was his first game of the year."

Benson was understandably delighted to see his side come away with three league points even though Roughyeds lost their composure in the second half, adding only two tries to the eight they scored in the first 40 when playing down the Whitebank slope.

"The overall performance was a big improvement," he added, "and it made a big difference to have Neil Roden and Marcus St Hilaire back in the side.

"We scored some cracking tries in the first half and I was reasonably pleased with the defence too, given that at least three of their tries were the direct result of individual errors on our part rather than poor team defending.

"Skolars are no mugs, as they proved at Swinton last week, and there were times in the second half when they played some good stuff to stretch us a bit.

"We've turned a corner, and we've now got a week of hard work ahead of us before the two tough Easter games against Rochdale and Whitehaven."