Chris Thorman said he was proud of his Workington Town side who put themselves on the line to beat London Skolars in a tough encounter yesterday.

On an emotional day, after the news broke of the death of team manager Brian Ritson earlier that morning, Thorman said his side had done him proud, rising to the challenge to win 32-22.

“I was really proud of their efforts especially after the sad and tragic news of Brian Ritson’s passing this morning,” said Thorman.

“This was an emotional day and if it wasn’t going to happen today then it never would but, thankfully, it did.”

After a minutes applause in memory of both Brian and former player Harry Archer, the two sides went hammer and tongs for 80 minutes.

Thorman admitted Town had to dig deep to pull off the win at Borough Park.

“I thought we showed a fair bit of resilience through a lot of adversity,” he added.

“I’ve been pretty scathing in my criticism of the group when it comes to preparation. But, actually, the prep was okay we just don’t have enough fit bodies.

“We only had 15, but it was the fact that we found a way to win when we haven’t been great, when the chips are down and confidence is low.

“It was a real admirable victory because I thought we did whatever was necessary to find a way to win.”

It was an ill-disciplined encounter towards the end with Declan O’Donnell shown a red card for Town and James Barran a yellow for Skolars.

Thorman added: “London came with some spoiling tactics.

“There was some interesting tackling techniques at times and I thought the ref could have nipped that in the bud a little earlier. And it probably wouldn’t have escalated like it did but, all in all, I was very proud of their efforts.”