England were held to a shock 18-18 draw by Cumbria in their warm-up match for the Four Nations Series in Australia and New Zealand.
Purdham leads Cumbria in fitting tribute to his brother
England were held to a shock 18-18 draw by Cumbria in their warm-up match for the Four Nations Series in Australia and New Zealand on Saturday.
Cumbria were impressive throughout and played with enormous passion to hold at bay an England outfit boasting up to a dozen members of the likely tour party.
Three times they fought back to level the scores at a packed and emotional Recreation Ground in Whitehaven and the final score can only be described as thoroughly deserved.
The game began in sombre mood as spectators paid tribute to former Workington and Whitehaven forward Garry Purdham, who had been a victim of the Cumbria shootings in June.
But, led superbly by Garry's younger brother, Harlequins and England loose forward Rob Purdham, together with Super League wingmen Ade Gardner and Will Sharp, the hosts soon lifted the crowd's spirits with a performance fit for the occasion.
Harlequins centre Tony Clubb opened the scoring with a try for England.
But Leeds' former Whitehaven forward Kyle Amor replied with one for the hosts, which Purdham converted to equal the scores.
Glorious
The scores did not change until minutes before half-time when prop forward Garreth Carvell powered through for England's second try.
Carvell's Warrington team-mate Ben Westwood kicked a second conversion to make it 12-6 at the break.
Six minutes into the second half though, came a try that brought the crowd to their feet when Purdham's half-break created an opening for John Paul Brocklebank, one of two players from Garry Purdham's amateur club Egremont Rangers, to score against the National side.
Richie Myler skipped through some tired tackling to restore England's lead on 53 minutes as the hosts began to show signs of fatigue.
But Whitehaven centre Scott McAvoy found his second wind to race 40 metres for a glorious third try nine minutes from the end.
Gregg McNally's goal levelled the scores with his conversion but minutes later Mickey Higham almost snatched victory for England.
The Warrington hooker went desperately close but knocked on as he stretched for the line, leaving Cumbria to celebrate at the final whistle as if they had won.
