ASKAM'S hopes of promotion from National Conference League Division Two were killed off by a faster, stronger Wigan St Judes side who had the edge throughout in the 35-18 play-off semi-final defeat at Fallowfield Park.

Architect of Askam’s defeat was St Judes second row forward Gavin Rodden, who ran in a hat-trick of tries and dominated much of the action with his strong running.

An early warning of the size of the task facing an Askam side missing several key players came when the visitors almost took a first-minute lead and, although the home defence held out against a series of attacks, they eventually cracked in 13th minute when prop Aaron Smith bulldozed his way over for the opening try.

Askam were quick to reply and five minutes later, stand-off Tom Wilkinson deceived the Wigan defence with a neat piece of footwork for an equalising try.

Danger man Rodden stunned the home side with a spectacular solo try in the 20th minute when he raced half the length of the field, outrunning the chasing cover to restore St Judes’ lead.

Again, the lead lasted only a couple of minutes before Stuart High ran on to a short pass from Brad Jackson and cut through the defensive line for the try that levelled things up again.

Although they were matching the visitors score for score at this stage, two tries in a three-minute burst knocked much of the stuffing out of Askam’s youngsters.

Again, Rodden was the man who did much of the damage with his second try before prop Tom Owen stretched the visitors’ lead to 24-12 at the break.

Dave Clark’s side, who had finished the regular season with a four-match winning run, suffered a further blow five minutes into the second half – winger Dec Parkinson running on to a Rodden kick ahead.

A drop-goal and Rodden’s third try took St Judes out of sight at 35-12 but Askam had the final say when their non-stop hooker Sam Dowsett was rewarded with the last try of the game.

Despite the disappointment of missing out on promotion, Askam can look back on a successful season in which this was only their second home defeat.

Ulverston, already crowned champions of Division Two of the North West Men’s League, came unstuck in their play-off against Wigan St. Cuthberts. Matt Dean, Brad Williamson and Duane Bel were the try scorers in a 28-18 defeat.

In the Division One player-off final, Walney Central’s youngsters found the game against Rochdale Mayfield a hurdle too high and they suffered a 51-6 defeat.