over Clock Face Miners ‘A' at a sun drenched Victoria Park Stadium on Saturday morning.

The game ebbed and flowed throughout with both sides having periods of domination and it was no surprise that the game went in to golden point considering the closeness on the field that made it such a brilliant spectacle for the large appreciative crowd.

Rovers opened the scoring in the fifth minute when a strong run from prop forward Tom Woodward saw him brought down just short but a quick play the ball saw hooker Kieran Moore put loose forward Scott Whiteley over at the side of the posts. Full back Liam Sullivan converted but six minutes later Clock Face replied when hooker Ben Rigby found prop forward Alan Johnson who powered over from close range. Stand off Jack Highcock added the conversion to level matters.

The Miners went in front just after the midway point of the half when a clever kick into the in-goal area by Highcock saw second row Luke Forber react quickest to dive on the ball and score at the side of the posts. Highcock converted and despite Rovers peppering the Clock Face line for the final five minutes of the half there was no further score as Clock Face took a 12-6 lead into the interval.

Rovers hit back six minutes into the second half when scrum half Billy Maunder managed to stretch out and ground the ball at the side of the posts. Sullivan converted and three minutes later a high kick by Maunder on the last tackle was fumbled by Clock Face and second row Patryk Mazur pounced on the loose ball to score in the right corner.

Just after the hour Rovers moved further clear when a great high kick into the in-goal area by Maunder was superbly caught by centre Olly Parr to score on the left. Sullivan converted but seven minutes later the Miners kept the ball alive close to the line and got the ball out to winger Steve Adamson who scored in the left corner. Scrum half Jordy Cresser added the touchline conversion to narrow the gap to just four points.

With four minutes remaining the Miners were awarded a penalty close to the rovers line and after centre Andy Smith had been held just short a quick play the ball saw Johnson force his way over from five metres out to score on the left to bring the scores level once again and take the game into golden point.

The first half of extra time golden point saw Clock Face have two very close drop goal attempts drift agonisingly wide and then five minutes into the second period Maunder made a break and found winger Olly Hands who raced away down the left wing before passing back inside to Maunder whose pinpoint kick out wide found Mazur in acres of space to collect brilliantly and score on the right to spark wild scenes of jubilation as Rovers claimed the NWML Shield with a heart-stopping 26-22 win.

The Man of the Match was awarded to Rovers second row Patryk Mazur although loose forward Scott Whiteley was superb throughout along with prop forward Tom Woodward, hooker Kieran Moore and scrum half Billy Maunder.

After the game Rovers Coach Andy Penny said, “I am absolutely thrilled with the way the boys stuck at it and finally managed to get the win. The shear guts and determination that they showed and commitment for each other is what got us home. We made some errors, especially in the first half, that could have proved costly but to be fair to the lads they never let their heads drop and kept on plugging away. Clock Face were very strong and contributed fully to what was a fantastic spectacle and both teams can be proud of the way they played but ultimately there can only be one winner and myself and Steve Moore cannot praise the whole squad enough for what they continue to produce every week.”

ROVERS ‘A’

Liam Sullivan, Kieran Jones, Callum Moore, Olly Parr, Olly Hands, Will Chadwick, Billy Maunder, Owen Hazlehurst, Kieran Moore, Tom Woodward, Patryk Mazur, Niall Toher, Scott Whiteley.

Subs:​ Tom Fagan, Max Ainsworth, Clint Rylance, Sam Wood.