Swinton pleased with Adrian Morley

Warrington’s veteran prop Adrian Morley made his Swinton debut on dual-registration as the Lions beat NW Crusaders 26-18 to reach the quarter-finals of the Northern Rail Cup.

The Salford-born England international is on his way back from a bicep injury and drew glowing praise from coach Gary Chambers.

“Morley was good in the changing room pre and post game and his stats were really impressive,” he said.

“He just got on with the game on his way back from injury and took the ball hard, tackled hard and got us moving forward.

“He did a good job for us.”

It was a tough game against Clive Griffiths’s team who were unbeaten in this competition and in Championship One.

Crusaders prop Simon Stephens was sent off and Swinton’s Matt Sarsfield was given ten minutes to cool down in the sin-bin after a punch-up with 20 minutes left.

Then Crusaders back-rower Toby Adamson and Swinton’s Jack Cooper were sent to the sin-bin for fighting with just a few minutes remaining.

“It was a good old fashioned game with some good tries and a bit of rough stuff,” said Chambers.

“I’m a traditionalist and if it’s not stupid it’s part of the game. You play on the edge and that’s what makes people love our game.

“I’m not going to stand here and condone it but things like that happen and it’s part and parcel of the game.”