Brodie-Lee Butler Shield : Ince Rose Bridge v Royal Navy Rugby League

RNRL travelled to the North West for the second time in a month this time to face Ince Rose Bridge in the annual Brodie-Lee Butler Shield fixture. Despite the bad weather the forecast on the day was to be windy but dry however the British weather took no heed of the forecasters and although the warms up started in the dry just before kick off the strong wind brought half an hours’ worth of heavy driving rain to welcome everybody to the match.
Needless to say, the rain made ball handling and retention hugely difficult but both teams did their best to play some expansive Rugby despite conditions. RNRL faced the wind and the slope in the first half and put on one of the best defensive displays seen for a long time giving them a far better platform than last time out at West Bank. This effort not only kept the Ince boys from scoring but gave the Brothers the confidence to go at the opposition both down the middle and out wide. As the rain eased play became a bit easier and although the game was scoreless until the 30-minute mark there was plenty to entertain the crowd, massive hits from both sides with James Parry leading the RN pack whilst Josh Coupland had a great game on the wing. The deadlock was broken on the half hour, a promising attack from midfield moved out to the RN left wing and local boy Brodie-Lee Butler took the ball hitting a great line to cross to the left of the posts in front of the Ince Clubhouse! Lennox Green converted well with what turned out to be his easiest conversion of the afternoon. As the half drew to a close Ince came back at the RN trying to avoid being nilled at the break, a succession of penalties conceded by the RN saw the home side close on the RN line but with time running out in the Half Ince chose to take the two points rather than go for the try attempt, stand-off Cassidy converting, great credit to the RN defence! That was to be the half then, both sides dealt with the changing conditions well with RNRL worthy of the 4-point lead.
With the weather continuing to improve the sides took to the field for the second half, RNRL now playing down the Ince slope with the wind behind them as it would be for the rest of the game. The Brothers could not have wished for a better start, another promising move on their left saw replacement Joe O’Hanlon slip a great pass out to fellow Sub Barrie MacLean who finished the move out wide to stretch this sides lead. The touchdown was converted by Lennox Green who put over a wonderful conversion from the touchline judging the wind perfectly, 2-12 after just 5 minutes of the second half! Frustration began to tell on the Ince side as they were on the back foot for long periods and could have been further behind but managed to keep the RN out. RNRL were full of confidence now continuing to press for more, a bit too much confidence on occasions ended a couple of promising moves but failure to score was overshadowed by some mighty defence keeping the Ince side scoreless for the second half. The home side were getting more and more frustrated as the half wore on and despite conceding several penalties, they failed to heed the referee’s advice. An abusive outburst at the Ref by an Ince Player saw him yellow carded which was changed to red following more words to the touch judge as he left the field. This was followed by a further yellow card for Ince as they continually failed to clear the ruck as they attempted to slow the game down. Whilst all this was going on the RNRL boys kept clear and out of trouble continuing to press for the score to secure the game. That score came with the last action of the game with another left-wing score, O’Hanlon turned from provider to scorer marking his first team debut with a four pointer! Lennox Green completed the scoring with another wonderful effort almost from the left touchline. This proved to be the last action of the game to give RNRL a 2:18 victory over a tough Ince side still smarting after their Challenge Cup defeat to the Army. Head Coach Steve Lockton was delighted with the result and the performances across the team and was a great morale booster for the Brothers after some disappointing results of late.
This victory was the first time the Brothers had turned over the home side, RNRL skipper Ben Taylor gratefully accepted the Brodie-Lee Butler Shield from RFL CEO Mr Ralph Rimmer who came over to watch the game enroute to the World Club Challenge fixture later in the evening.
RNRL: - Luke Cooper, Fergie Donaldson, Ed Holland, Pat Coy, Josh Coupland, Sean Houghton, Lennox Green, James Parry, Callum Cone, Matt Holland, Brodie-Lee Butler, Nathan Lee, Ben Taylor (C), Replacements (all used): - Louis Mckenna, Barrie MacLean, Danny Johnson, Joe O’Hanlon, Jay Smith

Scorers: T. Butler, MacLean, O’Hanlon
G. Green 3Conv