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Ladbrokes Challenge Cup -  Royal Navy v Normanton Knights

Ladbrokes Challenge Cup - Royal Navy v Normanton Knights

Keith Humpleby13 Jan 2018 - 16:13
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For the fourth time in our history RNRL has been drawn against the Normanton Knights in this year’s Challenge Cup.

The match will be played at Burnaby Road Portsmouth on Saturday 27th January with the kick off scheduled for 2pm. As always all spectators service or civilian are welcome to the game and admission is free with bar facilities available from 1:30 pm.

In terms of Rugby League on the South Coast this is as always a massive fixture and once again it is the most southerly of all the first round ties. To further boost the profile of Rugby League on the south coast we have the added bonus of the presence of Lee Beardshaw from Rugby League TV who will be travelling down with the Knights to cover the match for the station.

As highlighted above this will be the fourth meeting between the clubs and at present the Knights have a 2-1 advantage in games won. I put on my anorak and dug out my match reports for the three previous meetings between the sides attached below as well as posting a new photo album containing images from all three meetings. Please note the second and third match images are Crown Copyright whilst the first match phots are credited to the original photographer, I will leave you to work out which is which!

Normanton Knights 14: 18 Royal Navy - December 2003

The first fixture was played in late 2003 in the first round of the 03/04 season Challenge Cup in the days before ‘Summer RL’. The first half was played in almost continual rain making handling difficult. A debut try for Taff George broke the deadlock after 20 minutes, converted by Scot Partis 0-6. Five minutes later Partis stunned the Knights and their fans by intercepting a pass to run 75 mtrs to score close to the posts and then converted his own try to move the RN 0-12 ahead. Normanton replied with two tries from Richard Stead and Lee Garside with a conversion from Lee Aspinall before the break to leave the RN ahead by 10-12 at half time. The home side went ahead for the only time in the match straight after the kick off with a unconverted try from Paul Greaves to give them a 12-14 advantage. Normanton’s lead lasted barely 10 minutes before a move out to the wing saw Jamie Goss pass to Mark Ives who crashed through the defence to score the try which Scot Partis again converted to restore the Navy’s Lead at 18-14. The next 20 minutes saw no further scores but the RN defence was tested time and again but held firm without conceding. The deciding score was a penalty on 75 minutes scored by Man of the Match Scott Partis to give the RN a bit more breathing space. The last five minutes of the match was a nerve jangling affair with the home side being denied twice after being held up over the try line but finally the whistle went and the RN marched on to 2nd round.
HT- 10-12
Scorers RN T- George, Partis, Ives
G – Partis 3
Normanton T-Stead, Garside, Greaves
G- Aspinall

Royal Navy 16: 18 Normanton Knights – February 2006

The next meeting between the two sides was in the 05/06 competition the Knights made their first trip ‘down south’ to take on the Brothers at Burnaby Road. In far more benign conditions the result was reversed with the Knights shading the match after another thriller in Portsmouth.
Coach Wayne O’Kell was forced to make a couple of changes the day before the match due to injuries but nevertheless the strength in depth of the RN RL squad meant his team on the day was by no means a second string outfit. Both teams enjoyed good attacking opportunities in the early exchanges but it was the Knights who broke the deadlock after 10 minutes. Following successive penalties the ball went out to left centre Gary Ellis who crossed for the score, stand-off Ben Cockayne opened his account with a good conversion which he followed up with a penalty 5 minutes later to stretch the Knights lead to 8 points to nil. This scoreline lasted for another five minutes before the RN were awarded a penalty for holding on at the play the ball, the offender was hero turned villain Cockayne who was given ten minutes in the bin for his trouble. Jamie Goss duly scored the penalty and the Navy was on the score sheet. Despite being a man down Normanton being went further ahead a few minutes later with a penalty goal for hooker Ryan Tilford. This spurred the RN into life and with 30 minutes on the clock James Wagstaffe took the ball on the half way line and broke the Normanton cover brushing aside the full back for a wonderful solo effort. Skipper Martin Walker banged over the conversion to bring the score up to 8-10. The final minutes of the half saw the RN pressuring the Knights line but despite coming close, the score remained at 8:10 at the break.
The RN took the initiative after the break and scored after a surging run by Jamie Goss who was held up over the line, however from the play the ball Danny Coffey burrowed under the defensive line to claim the score. The RN lead did not last long as the Knights replied almost immediately with another penalty goal for Ben Cockayne. The match by now was really winding up and on the hour another sweeping move from the RN saw Jim Barnes go over to put the Navy ahead once again. Unfortunately the conversion was missed so the lead was only 4 points at 16:12. The last word went to the Knights though with less than ten minutes to go left centre Chris Lewis went over out on the touchline to level the scores. It was then the turn of villain turned hero again Ben Cockayne to score a great touchline conversion to give his side a narrow victory. The man of the match award went to Knights full back Michael Butterfield whose defensive efforts went a great way to keeping out the Navy’s frequent attacks. On the RN side full back Matt Bowker had another impressive match with several breaks from deep inside his own half as well as a lot of work in defence, one particular effort resulted in him losing a bit of a tooth!

HT 8:10
Scorers:
Royal Navy:- T - Wagstaffe, Coffey, Barnes
G – Goss, Walker(2)
Normanton Knight:- T- Ellis, Lewis
G – Cockayne (4) Tilford (1)

Royal Navy 26:28 Normanton Knights – January 2007

The last meeting between the two sides came in the 2007 Challenge Cup with the away team taking the spoils again in a dour, tough but always compelling match with plenty for the fans of both sides to shout about. Despite the heavy rain in the days preceding the match the game was played in dry and clear conditions.
The somewhat scrappy opening to the game suddenly exploded when RN playmaker Scott Partis, obviously targeted by the visitors, was flattened after putting a kick through. Ref Jefferson had no hesitation and Knights hooker Chris Woolford took no further part in the game. The first score of the match however went to the visitors as the RN were penalised for holding down and scrum half Michael Hill duly kicked the goal from under the posts 0:2. Following good pressure from the RN with play concentrated in the Knights half a great sweeping move across the field saw James Wagstaffe cross for the try, Partis was on target with the conversion to put his side ahead, 6:2. As became the pattern throughout the match the Knights responded to this score a few minutes later, another penalty gave them valuable territory before left wing Andrew Greaves went over in the corner so the scores were tied at 6:6. Two penalties in fairly quick succession gave Normanton a four point advantage, 6:10. The remaining ten minutes of the half saw the RN dominate possession and territory but could not find the all important break against the 12 men of Normanton who despite being almost out on their feet dug deep and managed to keep the Navy at bay. At half time the teams went off with the score 6:10 in favour of the Knights.
The second half began in the worst possible way for the home side, the Normanton kick off hung in the wind and the RN defence failed to gather so immediately Normanton had possession. Three tackles later sub James Smith forced his way over the line close to the posts and with Hill’s conversion the Normanton lead was now 10 points. Following the ‘script’ for the match it was the RN who responded next, a promising move down the right wing by Buinimasi was held up and as the ball came into centre field Scott Partis was once again hammered by the defence, declining the kick Partis sent Chris Thomson away and the prop did the rest beating the defence to crash over for his first try of the season. Partis coolly put over the conversion, the perfect responded to the foul play, 12:16. This passage of play had the Normanton side rocking and barely 3 minutes after the conversion the Brothers were there again with a try for Lee Rossiter out wide, 16:16. Once again the Knights dug deep and put together a good move to send James Smith over for his second of the day and with Hill once again on target the RN were behind again by six points 16:22.
It was now the Brothers turn to reply, after a massive hit on fellow Marine and Normanton 2nd Row Craig Mould by Jamie Goss the spilled ball was gathered and Tyler Helm found himself in acres of space just inside the Normanton half and he won the race to score, unfortunately Partis was just wide with the conversion but the gap was now just two points. The visitors made their final and decisive score after 56 minutes stand-off Richard Dobson scoring under the posts and with Hill adding the extras so it was now 20:28. The Normanton line came under intense pressure but held firm until the 68th minute before Chris Thomson linked with RN skipper Danny Johnson who crossed under the posts giving Partis a straight forward conversion. This time the RN came up just short and could not claw back the two points so at the whistle Normanton were winners by the 26:28. Whilst not a vintage Brothers performance the RN team did their best against a Normanton side unbeaten in 9 previous matches and who used all their guile to slow the play down wherever possible to give their 12 players as much chance as possible to get back to defend. It was not all negative from the Knights and Joseph Hirst was given the man of the match for the Knights for a great game both in going forward and in defence. For the RN James Wagstaffe made some massive and crucial tackles and the pack, once again, was more than a match for the opposition.
Teams:

Royal Navy- Kieran Cagney, Lee Rossiter, James Wagstaffe, Sili Buinimasi, Marc Warren, Chris Findley, Scott Partis, Jamie Goss, Kev Botwood, Lewis Taylor, Tom McKenna (VC), Gareth Sharp, Danny Johnson (C), Chris Thomson, Lee Hunter, Tyler Helm, Matt George.
Scorers:- Tries, Wagstaffe, Thomson, Rossiter, Helm, Johnson
Goals, Partis (3 Conv)

Normanton Knights – Dale Atkinson, Kevin Bateman, Richard Slater, Chris Lewis, Andrew Greaves, Richard Dobson, Michael Hill, Mark Webster, Chris Woolford, Patrick Waterton, Paul Statham, Craig Mould, Lee Aspinall (C), Joseph Hirst, Gavin Barrett, James Smith, Andrew Ellis
Scorers:- Tries, Greaves, Smith (2), Dobson
Goals, Hill (4 Conv 2 Pen)

I hope you enjoyed the above words and we look forward to seeing you at Burnaby Road on Saturday 27t January!

Further reading