To Hull and Back!

A long trip to the far east (of Hull) proved to be the end of this year’s Challenge Cup for RNRL who came up against a strong Skirlaugh side on Saturday afternoon. The weather was as good as it was going to be at this time of year although the heavy pitch complete with relatively long grass was not ideal for either side but probably favoured the home side. The respectable crowd who turned out for this re-match of the 2013 fixture was swelled by the great number of RNRL friends and family who had travelled to the game to support the lads and although the result went against The Brothers they put on a good show for the ‘barmy army’.
Honours were even for the first 15 minutes or so with both sides having opportunities with the home side doing their best to keep the ball in midfield away from the wings. The first score of the match came from a Skirlaugh 20 metre restart again through midfield channels, the kick from scrum half Carl Puckering came on the 4th tackle and it proved to be nigh on perfect left wing Tom Saltmar taking an easy catch to touch down out wide, the try was converted and the RN were down 6:0 after 15 minutes. The tactic of pushing through the kick early in the tackle cont was successful again barely five minutes later in almost a carbon copy of the first score this time it was the Left Centre Matty Bowman who touched down close to the posts, converted again by the Puckering. The final score of the first half went to the home side again this time it was a long looping pass above the RN cover by Puckering that was the killer punch, gratefully received by Tom Saltmar again who managed to get round almost under the posts to make the conversion straight forward, 18-00. With another 15 minutes of the first half to go the RN were facing down the barrel of a real hiding but the Brothers gathered themselves and forced their way into the game and after a couple of false starts the Fijian right wing combination got moving, a good 25 metre break by Manoa Satala was halted by a sole Skirlaugh defended who chanced his arm by holding the Navy man down earning himself 10 minutes in the bin. This spurred the RN on as they tried to make the most of the numerical advantage with Jimmy Shaw coming up inches short of the first RN score, however this was probably the nearest the Brothers came to the line as on several occasions before half time the ball was spilled in great attacking situations. With Skirlaugh back to 13 men and no RN scores the Ref blew for half time Skirlaugh 18:00 RN.

The second half was only four minutes old when the RN finally got on the scoreboard, Prop Richie Metcalfe for once got away from the smothering Skirlaugh defence in mid field releasing skipper Botwood who in turn found centre Buinimasi who used his strength to cut inside and beat the home defence touching down close to the posts, Bamford making the conversion 18:6. The home side regained their 18 point advantage shortly afterwards however, a good break from their own half looked to be odds on for a try but some great backtracking by Satala hauled the man down short of the land but just like the Skirlaugh player in the first half the RN centre was guilty of holding on for too long and spent 10 in the bin. From the restart Skirlaugh took advantage of the RN defence being in disarray and Carl Puckering crossed under the posts converting his own try, 24:6. Despite being down to 12 men the Brothers dug deep and once again Richie Metcalfe got the better of the tired looking Skirlaugh defence and with a neat step beat the last line of defence to cross for a great solo try, 24:10. In a much more open competition Skirlaugh came back James Higinbotham forcing his way over for their final try of the match converted again by Puckering, 30:10. The Brothers were now back to full strength and claimed the last score of the match, good interplay between the backs released hooker Andy Kay who scampered over from 15 metres touching down for his first RN try on debut for the First team, Darren Bamford again made the kick so at the final whistle the home side were winners by 30-16.

A disappointing result for the Brothers who rued the spilt possession in the first half when scoring chances looked on the cards. On a more positives note it was a good disciplined performance against a team who were relegated from the NCL Premiership last season and who are determined to bounce back straight away. Fitness wise there was no doubt the RN finished the stronger but the18 point deficit was just too much to recover. Skirlaugh voted RN loose forward Tommy Wilkinson Man Of The Match for another great performance across the park. RNRL gave the Skirlaugh Man of the Match to Skirlaugh full back Stu Smith who had a good game especially in defence saving his side on more than one occasion.
RNRL:- Steve Riley, Mike Haldenby, Tom Loxam, Silivenusi Buinimasi, Manoa Satala, Kev Botwood (C), Darren Bamford, Richie Metcalfe, Andy Kay, James Shaw, Ben Taylor, Andy Parrott, Tommy Wilkinson Reps:- Matt Parrott, Tom Marchant, Craig Sutton, Ryan Matthews
Scorers:- T, Buinimasi, Metcalfe, Kay
G, Bamford (2 Conv)
Skirlaugh:- T Saltmar(2)Bowman, Puckering, Higinbotham
G Puckering (5 Conv)