Bank Quay Bulls bring trophy back to Warrington

Bulls successfully defended the cup despite a terrible pitch and falling to an early eight-point deficit.

Blackbrook flew out of the blocks to score a try through Danny Davies and tag on two further Lee Marsh goals in the first 10 minutes.

Craig White was the man to get Bank Quay back on the front foot, as his darting run found space for him to drop over for a converted try moments before the tentative Blackbrook added another penalty in an attempt to keep their noses in front.

But their conservative tactics backfired shortly before the break.

On the stroke of half time Nick Braide offloaded nicely to Phil Braddish and the Bulls captain handed it to man-of-the-match Paul Cragg to score by the posts.

Leading 12-10 at the restart, Bank Quay looked to turn the screw on their local rivals and began to pile on the pressure near the Blackbrook line.

It was not long until the pressure told, Danny Forster dummying and darting over the line to give Craig White a simple conversion and extending his side’s lead.

Blackbrook were in no mood to let Bulls have it all their own way, and they soon fought back to within four points after Davies went in for his second try of the match.

But just as the St Helens outfit thought they had forged a lifeline, Cragg started to exercise his influence, first crashing over for a solo try before sending Wez Lawton over to make it 28-14 to the reigning champions.

Although Craig Millington had been sin-binned for Bank Quay, helping to allow Davies to cross for his hat-trick try, Bulls were too far ahead to catch.

White made sure when slotting over a drop goal in the dying moments, sealing another Lancashire Cup title for Bank Quay.

Bulls: Eddie Vaughan; Ste Caley, Danny Shaw, Ste Fisher, Kiel Hillman; Paul Cragg, Craig White; Jamie Peasnall, Danny Forster, Phil Braddish, Danny Woods, Nick Braide, Craig Millington. Subs: Wez Lawton, Ste Gamble, Ste Bird, Scott Davidson.