Swinton the reward for London Skolars after victory in Ladbrokes Challenge Cup
London Skolars will face Swinton Lions in round four of the Ladbrokes Challenge Cup - Credit: Getty Images/iStockphoto
London Skolars will face a trip to Swinton Lions in round four of the Ladbrokes Challenge Cup as reward for beating Hemel Stags.
The 22-12 victory in Hertfordshire was only the second time the Skolars had won away from home in 21 years of participating in Rugby League’s premier cup competition.
And it means the Kingstone Press League One side now have the chance to become giantkillers at Championship Lions.
At one stage in round three they looked to be cruising to victory, but had to defend against a late comeback at Pennine Way.
After Ryan Chester had been held up over the line early on, Lamont Bryan pushed his way over, exposing a gap in the defence.
Billy Driver shot over from dummy half to extend the lead, but even with a strong wind in their favour Skolars couldn’t add more points despite dominating the game.
Skolars went further ahead in the second half when Aaron Small dived low to reach the tryline and it looked like they might nil the home side.
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However, some industrious work by Declan Gregory saw him held up over the line, before Darren Forde went over in the right corner.
Gregory scored with six minutes to go, narrowing the deficit to four points, but Skolars made the game safe when Will Martin went over after a strong run by Michael Sykes.
Charlie Lawrence added his third goal of the afternoon as the hooter sounded.
Skolars start their League One campaign on Saturday in a historic encounter when they take on Toronto Wolfpack at New River at 2.30pm.
It will be the first ever league game for the new Canadian outfit who will be travelling back and forth over the Atlantic to play their games.
