Records tumble as Midlands Hurricane march in third round of Challenge Cup with 20-try win over Aberavon Fighting Irish

It was a day of records being broken across the board as Midlands Hurricanes booked their place in the third round of the Challenge Cup with a 110-0 win over Aberavon Fighting Irish.

The South Wales Rugby League Conference side had progressed to the second round for the first time in their history, but found the visit to Avery Fields to be a step too far, with the Hurricanes putting on a professional display to record the club’s biggest ever win.

There were 20 tries in total under the floodlights in Sandwell, with Owen Restall scoring a record five on his first appearance for the club, with the floodgates opening on the first set of six when Lewis Else stormed over.

Todd Horner scored one of the 20 tries in a 110-0 win. Photo: Andy Shaw

Ryan Johnson added to his season tally with four tries, while Sully Medford, Lewis Else and Toby Warren scored two each and Todd Horner, Brandon Moore, Ollie Roberts and Aiden Roden all crossed the whitewash.

The only blot on the copybook for the Hurricanes was when Cian Tyrer was carried off the pitch with an ankle injury as he looked to score in the corner, with clear concern on the faces of players and staff as to how long he might be out for as a result.

Owen Restall goes over for one of his record five tries. Photo: Andy Shaw

Aberavon battled as best as they could, but the gulf in class was evident as a strong Hurricanes side battered their defence at will, with Else constantly making space with jinking runs and Ross Oakes and Owen Restall combined well on the right wing.

Coming after an opening day defeat to Newcastle Thunder, it was a performance that gave head coach Mark Dunning plenty of positives in term of the attacking play, but also plenty to look at in terms of intensity and composure ahead of the visit of Doncaster on February 1.

The Hurricanes put on a professional performance to progress to the third round. Photo: Andy Shaw

MIDLANDS HURRICANES

1 Todd Horner

22 Cian Tyrer

3 Ryan Johnson

4 Ross Oakes

18 Owen Restall

19 Sully Medforth

7 Lewis Else

28 Isaac Shaw

14 Brandon Moore

15 Elliott Morris

20 Toby Warren

12 Oliver Roberts

17 Kieran Moran

Subs (all used)

8 Jon Luke Kirby

9 Aiden Roden

10 Tyler Dickinson

27 Louis Beattie

Tries: Else (1), Johnson (5, 20, 70, 74), Horner (7), Restall (9, 16, 56, 64, 74), Medforth (13, 80), Moore (23), Else (26), Kirby (33), Warren (39, 50), Roberts (45), Roden (60)

Goals: Medford 14/19, Tyrer 1/1

ABERAVON FIGHTING IRISH

1 Isaac Morgan

2 Ieuan Allen

3 Owen Thomas

4 Iestyn Williams-Jones

5 Lewis Francis

6 Llewellyn Hawkes

7 Sean Waldeck

8 Ben Jackson

23 Owen Evans

10 Dylan Mclachlan