Workington Town’s hat-trick hero Brett Carter praised his team-mates after what he regards as one of the most aggressive defensive displays he’s seen during Sunday’s 60-20 win over rivals Whitehaven.

Town led 40-10 at the break and then managed to restrict Haven to just 10 more points in the second half as they picked up their sixth derby win in a row.

“We all dug in and it was one of the most aggressive defensive displays I’ve seen in my time here,” Carter said.

“All we needed to do was focus on our defence and we knew the result would look after itself.

“We’ve come really good in the Super 8s, apart from a few results, and the lads have pulled together. There’s a strong team unit and it’s good to be a part of it.”

Town needed a win on Sunday to book their place in the Championship Shield semi-final and they will face Featherstone in the play-off in a fortnight.

In addition to Carter’s hat-trick, both Elliott Miller and Jarrad Stack scored braces with Jack Murphy, Jarrod Sammut, Carl Forber and Jason Mossop all crossing the whitewash.

Town went ahead in the first minute through Miller and Carter believes his side made it difficult for themselves after that.

“To get the win feels great, especially in the first half with the scoreline we went in with.

“It was difficult at the start because we were going try for try and giving away stupid ball.

“You don’t intentionally take your foot off the gas but it might have felt like that.

“Probably the worst thing we could have done is score in the first minute. But the lads pulled together and we scored some nice tries.

“It’s great to see my team-mates express themselves and score the tries they did. The derby is one of the most important games of the season and we didn’t want things to go down to the final week of the year.

“It’s good for the club to finish above Whitehaven and secure the play-off place.”