Ton up for Workington’s Forber
Workington Town scrum-half Carl Forber will make his 100th appearance for the club in Sunday’s Kingstone Press Championship match against Doncaster.
Forber has had two spells at the club, joining for the first time in 2007 before returning at the start of last season and helping Town to promotion.
“I’m quite proud of it,” he said. “It’s a big milestone for a big club. Last year was hard for me in the middle of the season when I didn’t get picked for a few games, but I came back into the side. We’ve made a decent start to this season with a win at Swinton and getting a bonus point against Halifax, one of the best sides in the league.”
Workington challenged Doncaster all the way last season, but it was the Dons who won the title, with Town taking the third promotion spot. At Derwent Park, Town overcame an 18-0 deficit to win 45-18 before Doncaster won two late-season games at the Keepmoat Stadium by 22-6 and 20-0.
“I don’t think I’ve ever won at Doncaster so I owe them one,” said Forber, who is distantly related to former Town, St Helens and Salford forward, Paul. “We got nilled in one of those games there last season and even though we had some key players missing we were disappointed not to score. Paul Cooke is a great player who will punish you if you give him the chance. He’s very smart, and he’ll cause problems.”
Forber won the sponsors’ man of the match last weekend against Halifax and, more importantly, he kicked a late 40-metre penalty to clinch a bonus point.
“I didn’t even realise the situation,” he admitted. “A couple of the lads said ‘take the two’ but I thought the bonus point had been scrapped! I get nervous when they’re right under the sticks but not the harder ones and it went over.
“If you’d offered us four points for the first two games, we’d have been happy. It’s a steady start. The Championship is a little bit faster, and the opposition is stronger. Halifax didn’t outplay us, they just took their chances and we didn’t. In a lot of areas there was nothing between the teams.”
Forber is also enjoying his partnership with a rejuvenated Peter Lupton who, by his own admission, wasn’t at his best last season.
“It’s been going great. There’s lots of talk on the pitch and he helps us around the park. [Ewan] Dowesy brings experience too. Peter didn’t play too much last season, but he’s looking great so far.”
Town are also likely to give a debut to close-season signing from Oldham, prop forward Jamie Acton.
“He’s a big bloke and we’re looking forward to seeing him play,” said the 27-year-old. “He looks like a fit bloke who will take us forward. He played well for Oldham twice against us last season so we know what he can do.”