Workington make it three Cumbrian sides in the Championship for 2022

James Gordon

Photo: @TheRFL

Workington earned promotion to the Championship with a 36-12 win over Doncaster in the League 1 play-off final.

A faultless second half performance saw them home, with veteran half-back Carl Forber scoring 16 points.

Leading scorer Brad Holroyd rounded off the scoring in the 76th minute to spark the celebrations.

They didn’t have it all their own way though, despite Joe Brown getting them off to the perfect start with a try inside the first minute.

Liam Johnson soon restored parity and Ollie Greensmith’s try on the half-time hooter, converted by Matty Beharrell meant the Dons were within four points.

Matty Henson’s try on 47 minutes gave Town some breathing space at 22-12, but it was only in the final 10 minutes that they could start believing promotion as theirs.

Marcus O’Brien’s converted try with nine minutes to play eventually broke the Dons resolve.

Cumbrian trio in Championship

With Barrow going up as League 1 champions, the pair join fellow Cumbrians Whitehaven in the second tier.

Whitehaven themselves made headlines this season with a super run at the back end of the season to make the Championship play-offs.

All three will now go head-to-head in 2022, with a minimum of six Cumbrian derbies guaranteed.

Workington had finished the regular season in second place with a win percentage of 70%, though they had played the fewest games in the competition.

Their 10 wins from 15 had kept up the pressure on eventual winners Barrow.

Doncaster finished in 5th and did it the hard way through the play-offs, including winning in the most dramatic of fashion away at Keighley last weekend.

Workington and Barrow will replace Oldham and Swinton in the Championship in 2022, with Leigh due to come down from Super League.

Toulouse and Featherstone go head to head in tonight’s Championship Grand Final in France to determine the final divisional movement.

League 1 could yet expand to 11 teams for 2022 season, with no decision yet being announced about Ottawa Aces’ involvement.

The Canadian club have retained their RFL membership, having deferred their planned entry in 2021 by a year due to the COVID pandemic.

League 1 Doncaster RLFC

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