Workington Town head coach Phil Veivers said he was delighted with his side’s ruthless performance in yesterday’s 60-20 win over rivals Whitehaven.

Town booked their place in the semi-finals of the Championship Shield with the win against their West Cumbrian counterparts and will likely face Featherstone Rovers in a fortnight’s time.

The result was Town’s sixth successive win over Haven in a run stretching back to August last year.

“It’s six out of seven wins against Haven for me, so I really enjoy that record,” Veivers said. “We spoke all week about being ruthless and we showed that on the field.

“We had some well-constructed tries. There were plays off the training park, set plays, set moves, scrum moves.

“We had a shot with everything we tried and they all paid off. We put the London game in the bin and we were focused on a performance yesterday and they performed very well.

“The players need to take that attitude into next week’s game.”

Town winger Brett Carter scored a hat-trick and Elliott Miller crossed twice and, although Veivers was delighted with the duo’s performances, the Aussie was more than happy with the effort shown by his entire team.

“Elliott was oustanding and Brett did well to score his three tries – they all took some finishing,” said Veivers. “But it was a team performance and one to 17 gave a good account of themselves and they all contributed.

“We sang our victory song with gusto and it’s a great result for the die-hard fans who turn up week in, week out.

“And it’s a great result to roll over to the next home game next year.”

Town led 40-10 at half-time and Veivers believes the final 15 minutes of the first half took the game away from their opponents.

“We scored after 40 seconds and sometimes that can be a detriment to you,” he continued. “We let them back into the game. They made an error then we went and scored and it was a bit of an arm wrestle.

“There was a spell when they didn’t have the ball for 12 minutes and we scored four or five tries and that took the game away from them.

“They had no energy after that and were busted. When you concede back-to-back tries it destroys you mentally.”

Haven player/director James Robinson said he and his team-mates can’t afford a fourth successive defeat next week against Doncaster as they look to avoid relegation.

“We wanted a performance but we came up short,” he said. “There was a lack of numbers and people playing out of position but you can go all week and find excuses.

“We pulled together in the second half and started completing our sets and tackling in numbers but being 30 points behind at half-time takes some getting back.”

Speaking about his team-mate Dion Aiye, who scored a hat-trick in defeat, Robinson added: “He gives 110 per cent every week and it’s just a shame a few more didn’t get on the back of him and have that attitude.

“I don’t know if people are thinking we can shut up shop because it’s near the end of the season.

“Doncaster turned Dewsbury over and they’ll be coming up to us to try and spoil the party – we can’t afford to lose next week.

“We have to regroup and stick together, train hard and come up with a performance on Saturday.

“We need to give credit to Workington – the best team won on the day.”