Powergen Challenge Cup Preliminary Round Illingworth 24 Gloucestershire Warriors 25

A DANNY BURKE drop goal with less than 30 seconds remaining gave the Gloucestershire Warriors a deserved win over Pennine League Illingworth in the Preliminary Round of the Powergen Challenge Cup.

Illingworth were history makers for the second year running again not in the way they would like as, following last season's competition record 120-4 defeat by Rochdale Hornets, they became the first side to be defeated by a TOTALrl.com Rugby League Conference side in the Challenge Cup.

The Warriors created history in their 100th competitive game with a magnificent team performance that saw them come back from 24-18 down in the final ten minutes to snatch a dramatic win.

Illingworth opened the scoring in a breathless, competitive game after ten minutes against the run of play as a good move exposed the Warriors right flank and Steve Fossett sped in at the corner for an unconverted try.

At the end of the opening quarter, the Warriors turned their superiority in possession into points as Karl Kocerhan marked his 50th game for the club by charging through three tackles to score a try converted by Burke.

The lead lasted just three minutes as the home side recorded back to back tries to establish a 10-point lead.

Dale Taylor jinked his way through the defence to score by the posts before Fossett finished a good move down the left for his second of the afternoon.

Anthony O'Brien made no mistake with the extras to both tries and Illingworth looked set for a commanding win.

However the Warriors regrouped and hit back nine minutes from the break as Andy Bird burrowed over from acting half-back, Burke's conversion cut the lead to a single score at the break.

The introduction of player coach Dave Roberts and a greater intensity in defence saw Illingworth start the second half strongly and they soon extended their lead, Graham Dobson touching down after Stuart Garwood made a hash of Roberts' probing kick through.

The extra points were missed and this was to prove a crucial chink in Illingworth's armour as a late tackle on Burke put the Warriors in excellent field position, Bird capping good work with a 10-metre dart for the posts through a huge hole in the home defence.

Burke's conversion cut the deficit to two points and the game was right back in the melting pot.

A superb game took another twist with 17 minutes remaining. Illingworth profited from a penalty deep in their own half to go the length of the field in six tackles, Andy Greenway taking Roberts' pass to cross unopposed but again Roberts could not convert.

With time running out, Burke's kick through on the last found nobody home in defence and the scrum half touched down for a try he converted himself to tie the scores.

A sensation was most definitely on the cards as both sides pressed for what would surely have been the winning score and the Warriors threw away the chance of a drop goal as Luke Hanson was caught in possession on the last tackle.

As the excitement mounted, Roberts then lined up a difficult angled penalty for the home side but put his kick badly across the face of the posts. Rich Carter was then pulled back for a forward pass and from the scrum, Illingworth almost found the line as James Laheney was bundled into the corner flag by Bird's desperate tackle.

The Warriors next set of six then took them downfield and into range for Burke to drop for Challenge Cup glory.