Whitehaven stalwarts Craig Calvert and Scott McAvoy had a fitting finale to their west Cumbrian derby careers after their side clinched a convincing win over rivals Workington Town.

The duo both announced they will be retiring at the end of the season, McAvoy breaking the news just ahead of the game.

And they both picked up tries before having a guard of honour from their side to leave the field following a clear-cut 56-6 derby win at Derwent Park.

A delighted Haven player-coach Carl Forster paid tribute to the duo as he now looks ahead to the play-offs next week after a confidence-building end to the Super 8s.

“It was great that they both got over the line,” said Forster.

“We wanted to sub them off so they could get the reception they deserved. They will be big boots to fill next year.

“They are a credit to the club and I’m sure they will stay involved with Haven.”

Forster himself also left the field and was sat with an ice pack on his knee, causing worry among the fans, ahead of their play-off date with York City Knights next Sunday.

“I just felt a bit of a twist in the contact but I came off as a precaution,” said Forster.

“We were in a healthy position and I will rest up for next week. I won’t be missing that.”

Haven ran in 10 tries, eight in the second half, against a lacklustre Town side that could only field one forward on their substitutes bench.

Forster added: “We spoke about how they were lacking middles on the bench and we knew, if we worked that middle channel over, that we would get joy at the back end of the game.

“They have some great players in the middle but you can only go for so long when you’re that big. And we knew we would get the joy and that’s how it panned out.

“We will celebrate the win tonight, dust ourselves off, get back in training, do our homework on York and we will go into it with fresh heads.

“Yes, we are 80 minutes away from a final, but we are also 80 minutes away from the end of our season. So, this is the business end of the year now.”

Town coach Dave Clark admitted that the lack of forwards on the bench did not help the home cause.

“In the first half, I thought our boys did really well,” said Clark. “We spoke at half-time about absorbing their middles.

"Obviously, they are strong through the middle but to go 6-0 up and then only 12-6 down at half-time, I couldn’t ask for any more.

“But I think that the first five minutes in the second half was the difference. The first three tries were really quick and that was tough for us.

“You could see in our body language after that, it was difficult for us to get back up and get back into the arm wrestle.

“Having three wingers on the bench, not being able to rotate our middles, and Gordon Maudling coming off with a rib injury, meant it was always going to be tough for us.

“It was always going to catch up for us in the second half, trying to contain their momentum through the middle.

“But for the season we’ve had, where we finished and where we got to, I’m really proud of the players and the club.”