Hat Trick Hero Boafo shines in hard fought London victory against bottom side Swinton

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Danny Ward’s London Broncos were put through their paces by a lowly but valiant Swinton side, but ultimately the Broncos’ quality shone through and they were able to keep up the pressure on faltering Bradford Bulls and Batley Bulldogs.

This was the second of a pair of home games against opposition in the bottom three for London, posing a big opportunity to keep up the pressure on the front runners in the Championship whilst also pulling away from those chasing the play-off spots below them.

However, there is of course an element of pressure that comes with the territory of being big favourites going into a game and perhaps that explains why the Broncos were slow out of the blocks in both games, falling behind. 

Head coach Danny Ward made two changes ahead of the visit of Swinton, with Gideon Boafo and Dan Hindmarsh coming in for Cory Aston and Sam Davis.

Lineups

London Broncos:  Abbas Miski, Josh Hodson, Will Lovell, Chris Hankinson, Gideon Boafo, James Meadows, Jarrod Sammut, Greg Richards, Rob Oakley, Pat Moran, Jacob Jones, Rhys Curran, Daniel Hindmarsh 

Interchanges: Will Blakemore, Titus Gwaze, Oliver Leyland, Jordan Williams

Swinton Lions: Jack Hansen, Luis Roberts, Rhodri Lloyd, Mitch Cox, Mike Butt, Martyn Ridyard, Cobi Green, Tom Spencer, Luke Waterworth, Sam Brooks, Will Hope, Nick Gregson, Billy Brickhill 

Interchanges: Paddy Jones, Tayler Brown, Paul Nash, Deane Meadows 

It was a laboured start from London, who found themselves behind early on against the Championship’s bottom side thanks to a powerful carry from the Lions’ Cobi Green who shifted the ball outside to Rhodri Lloyd, the Welshman then able to power through the tackle of Gideon Boafo to put the first points of the game on the board.

22-year-old Boafo more than made amends for his error though, putting on a simply spectacular display from there on in. Picked up by the Broncos academy system from his hometown youth club (Croydon Hurricanes), Boafo has previously spent time out on loan at the London Skolars in League 1.

2021 has been a real breakthrough season for the winger, making three Championship starts and scoring in each of them prior to this game, as well as a score in the Challenge Cup against Keighley Cougars. 

In this game however, it was after the Swinton try that Boafo came into his own and took the game by storm. It all started with an absolutely barnstorming run. Receiving the ball from deep, he spun out of multiple tackles, before ducking and weaving to avoid the grasp of numerous Swinton defenders desperately trying to bring him down. Boafo ran almost the whole length of the pitch towards the goal line, but was eventually brought down and forced into touch.

After winning possession back, London completed a good set and pinned Swinton back into a tight corner with a well-executed kick from Jarrod Sammut allowing his teammates to swarm the receiver into touch.

Ward’s men were patient in their buildup but finally distributed the ball out to Boafo on the left-wing, allowing the promising youngster to ghost past a couple of defenders and go over in the corner. The two teams were now level at 6-6 on the 15-minute mark.

Boafo wasn’t done there though, far from it, and within three minutes he’d put his side in front by grabbing a second try.

Having received the ball on the back foot one-on-one with a recovering defender, the Broncos’ man treated the pitch like an obstacle course and in spectacular fashion, dived in at the corner, grounding the ball in the process.

But amazingly he was able to dive over all obstacles in front of him and ground the ball to give the Broncos the lead. Chris Hankinson made it two from two with the boot, successfully converting, and Broncos led 12-6.

Resilient defending followed from the winless visitors, and they held out for a further 15 minutes but could do nothing to prevent Abbas Miski touching down for the home side’s third try just after the half-an-hour mark, giving London a comfortable lead with the halftime break approaching.

Stuart Littler’s Swinton side are absolutely desperate to get their first points on the board this campaign though, and he will have been more than pleased with his side’s character following that third try.

Within the last six minutes of the first half, the Lions did manage to score two quick-fire tries. The first through Green and the second through Mike Butt, both converted by Martyn Ridyard.

Broncos boss Danny Ward will have been tearing his hair out as these tries were avoidable and very much self-inflicted, but nonetheless, the two teams headed in honours even at the interval, 18-18. London still had work to do if they were to come away victorious. 

Any nerves amongst  amongst the Broncos faithful weren’t made easier at the restart either, Swinton coming out firing and scoring the first try of the second half through Luis Roberts who stepped inside all of the Broncos’ attempted tackles intelligently to score in the corner. Accurate as ever, Ridyard didn’t miss from an acute angle, and the visitors took the lead by 24-18.

Littler’s Lions were on top and aggressive with their defence, looking dangerous when they did manage venture forward. However, as so often in sport, momentum can change very quickly.

Swinton had worked hard to shut out London for a couple of quick-fire sets but were forced into touching the ball down in their in-goal area and conceding a goal line drop out.

Unfortunately for the visitors, this proved just too much for them to handle, as London hammered their defence and the irrepressible Boafo went in again, this time to complete his hat trick.

Abbas Miski provided the killer pass and Boafo took full advantage of another one-on-one opportunity, though the conversion was missed and the Broncos were still narrowly behind by two points.

Despite this, Boafo’s hat-trick try had really turned the tide in the contest and a Swinton side now battered and bruised just started to wilt, allowing the Broncos’ quality to shine through.

Hankinson was able to break the line soon after before offloading to Miski and the Lebanon international then turned the Swinton full-back inside out before backing himself to score, ignoring the support of Boafo on the wing. Fortunately for London, he was successful and they had the lead. 28-24 following a successful conversion. 

Again, the Swinton side weren’t giving in and defended well, but couldn’t hold out against the might of the Broncos for long and in the 70th minute, the game was all but done when Broncos captain Will Lovell powered over for his first try of the season.

Shortly before the end, Sammut also sidestepped a tired Swinton defence and put the win beyond doubt. With both of these tries converted, the scoreline come the final hooter read 38-24 in favour of the home side, though that a much closer deficit than many thought before kick-off.

Post-match Thoughts

A good win for London, although they were seriously tested by a very game Swinton side. Boafo’s hat-trick stood out, and if given more opportunities, it wouldn’t be surprising if a Super League club were to have an interest in him sooner rather than later. The 22-year-old is lightning fast, dynamic and a powerful ball carrier so there is no doubt that he carries all of the athletic attributes to be a top-class winger. 

Head Coach Danny Ward will undoubtedly be frustrated that it took a slow start – and a Swinton try – to give his team the inspiration needed to shape up and get into gear. However, the character shown by his players when in the face of adversity will have been pleasing to their boss.

No one wants to give an opposing team their first win, and avoiding panic in this situation was key for London who were patient throughout and picked their moments, ultimately allowing their quality to shine through. 

As for Swinton, they were very good for the most part and caused London some real problems. Unfortunately, as is often the case for them, they fell short on quality and tired towards the end allowing the scoreline to get away from them.

All of this will sound like a broken record for Stuart Littler, who will be pleased with the positives that he can take once again, but ultimately needs and wants his players to start earning points as well as praise.

This win was vital for London, as both Bradford Bulls and Batley Bulldogs were on the losing side of Championship matches today, leaving the Broncos just one win from third place in the league table as things stand.

With a very tough game against an impressive Featherstone Rovers coming up away at Post Office Road, boss Ward will just be pleased to have this win – and another two points – in the bank. 

Meanwhile, Swinton’s next task could pose a realistic opportunity for their first win of the season as they travel to Whitehaven. However, Lions fans may be slightly less confident when they learn of Whitehaven’s destruction of the York City Knights.

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