Two sides with home grounds separated by under a mile to the east of Wigan were thrown together in a first round of the Challenge Cup as Wigan St Patricks took on Ince Rose Bridge for the honour of travelling to Workington to take on the Championship One side in the second round.

Ince Rose Bridge were underdogs, travelling the short distance to play the game but also plying their trace in Division One of the National Conference rather than the Premier division currently occupied by St Patricks. There was a big crowd in attendance to witness the action.

With just twenty-five second on the clock and Ince opened their account after St Pats spilled the ball from the kick off, Harry Penny was on hand to take the ball from first receiver and cross by the left upright. Robbie Valentine made sure that the conversion was added for a 6-0 lead.

St Patricks took sixteen minutes to register their first score when Jordan Penny took the long pass to step inside off a Craig Thomas ball and dive over. Craig Thomas was just short with the conversion attempt, St Pats trailing by two points.

St Patricks were down to twelve men on twenty-one when Phil Glover was re-carded for a head-butt, the referee having no hesitation, a moment of stupidity which saw his side now trailing by two and with just under an hour to play with a man deficit. Ince Rose Bridge were now favourites.

On twenty-five Ince were in again Peter Valentine jumped to take a high chip to the corner from Kieron Ecclestone and wriggle out of a tackle to score ten in from the left touchline. The Robbie Valentine conversion was good again for 12-4. The hill was slowly turning into a mountain for St Pats.

Wigan St Pats grabbed a lifeline with seconds remaining in the first half as Tyler Highland found the perfect pass wide to Craig Thomas who crossed the line to improve the angle and dot down. Brad Smith added the conversion and the Ince lead was down to just two points at the interval.

Forty-eight seconds of the second half had elapsed before Danny Ryding took the ball from dummy half and lunged for the line to edge his side into the lead. Brad Smith added the conversion for a 16-12 home lead.

On forty-five Ince struck straight back as Kallem Rodgers shrugged off a tackle and sped fifty metres down the left wing to go over in the corner.  Once again Valentine was on target with his conversion and Ince were back in the lead.

Ince were held up on fifty-one as they turned up the pressure.

Kyle Malone for Ince and Zammit from St Pats both saw yellow on fifty-six after an altercation, we were now twelve against eleven.

A sixty-fourth minute Rob Valentine penalty put Ince ten points clear at 26-16.

Peter Valentine re-established the comfort zone for Ince on the hour mark as he dipped the shoulder after running twenty metres on the angle to stretch for the line and ground for his second try of the game. Robbie Valentine converted brilliantly from the touchline for an eight-point lead.

Great footwork from Rodgers saw him step out of a couple of tackles before putting Valentine through a gap for his hat-trick try to break St Pats hearts. Rob Valentine hit both posts but the lead was three converted tries.

Andy Collier was sin-binned on seventy for a high tackle, the two sides back to level numbers for the remainder of the game. St Pats took full advantage as Connor Taylor jinked his way through the line as he used the dummy runner as a foil. The kick from Smith was good, the Ince lead down to eight points.

Desperate Ince defending kept St Pats at bay as they held on for the win.

The sending off was the major turning point as Ince used their advantage to take the win and progress to a second-round game away in Workington in a couple of weeks’ time. They will find that game far tougher against the semi-professionals, but they have earned the chance to record a giant slaying.

Wigan St Patricks: Hyland, Williams-Sproat, Meadows, Penny (T), Thomas (T), Taylor (T), Prior, Webb, Kendrick, Zammit (SB on 56), Glover (SO on 21), Ryding (T), Gibbons.  Subs: Smith (3G), Higham, Gibson, Thompson.

Ince Rose Bridge: Valentine P (3T), Holcroft, Blakely, Malone K (SB on 56), Rodgers (T), Eccleston, Cottrill, Cunningham, Malone, Collier (SB on 70), Penny (T), Tootil, Valentine R (5G). Subs: Morrison, Malone J, Boyd, Farnworth.

Half-Time: 10-12.  

Full-Time: 22-30.

Score Progression: 0-4, 0-6, 4-6, (SO), 4-10, 4-12, 8-12, 10-12 : HT : 14-12, 16-12, 16-16, 16-18, (SB), (SB), 16-22, 16-24, 16-26, 16-30, (SB), 20-30, 22-30: FT.

Lead Exchanges: Ince - St Pats – Square – Ince.

Referee: John Lincoln.

Attendance: .