Rugby League Coaching Manuals

DEWSBURY CELTIC 24 HEMEL STAGS 22 - Crow Nest Park
Hemel failed to capitalise on Bramley's first defeat, going down in a thriller at Dewsbury Celtic. The hosts bounced back superbly from defeat at East Lancashire Lions last week with a thoroughly committed performance which brought them their best result of the campaign.

Stags opened the scoring in the first minute, leaving the initial impression that were set to dominate but the youthful Celts had other ideas in an edge-of-the-seat contest throughout.

Dewsbury's initial wound was self inflicted when they knocked on and conceded from the resulting scrum, Jared Searson bursting through to the posts, Barry John Swindells converting.

Celtic were unlucky not to level in the fifth minute, Scott Dyson intercepting in his own quarter and going 30 metres before feeding Pat Foulstone who went another forty before being mown down.

There was a feeling of déjà vu when Aiden Anderson intercepted three minutes later racing 70 metres to score in the corner.

Although Dyson could not add the extras, he levelled five minutes later with a penalty for offside.

Dyson was a having a major influence, dummying to score from close in, ten metres from the corner for an unconverted touchdown.

Hemel hit back cleverly, a delicate chip seeing Michael Crosby score aside the posts, Swindells edging them in front and a minute before the break they extended it, Stuart McIntyre sneaking in at the corner to make it 16-10 at the break.

Celtic, playing downhill in the second half, immediately put pressure on the visitors keeping them in their own half with some strong defence.

It paid off in spectacular fashion, Foulstone breaking clear and releasing Liam Edwards on the wing who passed back inside to Foulstone who crossed between the sticks and added the conversion to level again.

Fifteen minutes in to the second period, James Eatherley found a gap in the Hemel defensive line and took the opportunity, scoring by the posts, Foulstone goaling.

With six points between the sides, Dyson ratcheted up the pressure with a cleverly taken drop goal in the 67th minute which looked even more valuable when Ashley Fyson posted Stags only points of the second half with a try out wide which Swindells brilliantly converted to cut the gap to a point.

Four minutes from time, Josh West added a second drop goal to ensure victory after the visiting defence had held firm on their own line.

LIVERPOOL BUCCANEERS 70 CARLISLE CENTURIONS 12 - Leyfield Road
For a second successive weekend these two teams sat on opposing sides of a seventy point score line, as Buccaneers' powerhouse pack proved too much for a game but outgunned Carlisle to handle.

In a match which started in glorious sunshine but ended in cold rain, both sides battled hard for ascendancy in the opening quarter but four unanswered tries in the ten minutes to the interval set the hosts on the road to only their second ever win over the Centurions and back into a play off spot.

In the absence of the Chamberlain brothers and Kevin Howells, Buccaneers welcomed back Luke Murfin from injury whilst Steve Ormesher also made a welcome return and went on to play a key role with two tries, coupled with his wealth of experience and organisational ability.

Carlisle had their lynchpins - the Stalker twins - trying their hardest, while Tom Armstrong showed glimpses of the pace and power that saw him play professionally for Workington, but Buccaneers were largely dominant after a tightly-contested opening quarter.

The home side opened the scoring when Martin Gambles sent a chip kick to the right wing and Jamie Hammond raced through to ground the ball out wide.

Carlisle had a golden chance to reply when Craig Atkinson broke and made good ground down the left only for the visitors to knock-on.

They were made to pay when Alex Williams drove to the line and offloaded in the tackle for fellow prop Kieran Lacey to support and crash over, Hammond gaoling.

Centurions were offering stern resistance at this stage and when they won a scrum in Buccaneers' territory from a 40-20, Stuart Bulman found a gap and charged over, Craig Brierley adding the extras.

Buccaneers re-established their ten point lead when Murfin broke the line and found support from Gambles to finish off but it was not until the ten minutes before the break that the home side really seized control with their quadruple strike.

Ormesher set the ball rolling, brushing off attempted tackles to score between the posts after Armstrong had produced a fine tackle to deny Matt Garner, and the same player was in again minutes later as Sean Forber's flighted pass to the right saw Ormesher race through the gap.

Steve McInnis wrong-footed the defence for the Northern Irishman's first try in Buccaneers' colours and, right on half time, Gambles chipped and re-gathered before sending Paul Scott in at the corner for a 36-6 interval lead.

Carlisle hotly disputed that final try, claiming a forward pass, and they appeared energised by the perceived injustice after the break as they opened the half strongly. Andrew Halcroft broke the line but despite having support on either side he opted to go alone and paid the price, nailed short by Simon Holden.

However the Cumbrians doubled their tally when Craig Stalker's bomb was spilled and Atkinson gathered to score out wide, Brierley landing a fine conversion.

That score merely served to sting Buccaneers into action once more and they replied straight from the kick-off.

Carlisle allowed the restart to bounce dead and Kyle Smith charged over from the resulting field position.

Ryan Cunningham's introduction brought fresh spark to the Buccaneers' play and the livewire substitute grabbed a try when he dived over out wide, Sean Forber taking over the kicking duties.

Cunningham was involved in the next score when he broke the line and sent Holden in before Williams again offloaded after sucking in defenders, Mike Forber exploiting the scattered defence to score.

Williams and McInnis were instigators again as Holden grabbed his second and ten minutes from time Buccaneers scored their thirteenth and final try, Williams having proved a handful throughout with his searing drives, plunging over for a deserved score.

HUDDERSFIELD UNDERBANK RANGERS 12 FEATHERSTONE LIONS 12 - The Cross The historic ground witnessed an epic derby between two sides with title aspirations, but it needed a stoppage time try from Featherstone's back row forward Paul Watson to share the spoils.

Danny Huby had the chance to clinch the contest but he pulled the conversion attempt wide and honour was satisfied.

In a superb contest, with no quarter given by either side, both defences were to the fore especially inside their own ten metre areas and try scoring chances were at a premium.

Rangers line-up showed changes from the previous weekend's win at Hemel with Shaun Mitchell, Arran Crabtree, Gary Keegan and loan signing from Sheffield Eagles Andy Boothroyd replacing Lee St Hilaire, Dave Valentine, Tom Sharrock and Oliver Brodzinski.

Featherstone had seven players missing from their dominant win at Nottingham with broken leg victim Scott Glassell being their notable absentee but the reliable and experienced Adam Thaler stepped into the breach at half back.

Rangers started the livelier and Tom Senior opened the scoring after five minutes, winning a one-on-one strip and raced over from twenty metres.

Featherstone responded with a penalty goal from Huby after Rangers were guilty of going high in the tackle but spent majority of the opening forty in their half own half. Outstanding Rangers' prop forward Napoleoni Vinaka had a score chalked off following a forward pass from Boothroyd but Neil Barrett launched a huge bomb, which Lions' full back Tom Coad spilled and Chris Johnson hacked ahead the loose ball and won the foot race to touch down.

Barrett missed the conversion and Rangers should have increased their lead twice in the next ten minutes as wing Nick Bellas missed two gilt edged chances, dropping the ball fifteen metres out with a clear run to the line and then being forced into touch after released by centre partner Johnson.

The visitors had a great chance of their own as outstanding centre Steve Laurie broke from his own twenty metre area and raced seventy metres before being hauled down by the covering defence.

Featherstone moved the ball quickly to the right, but a poor pass resulted in the chance going begging.

The Lions turned the game on its head in the second half as they dominated field position for the majority of the period, with props Darren Fisher and Chris Bingham prominent throughout.

However, it took a breakaway try to haul them back into the game as Mark Kear released the supporting Adam Jones who handed on to Sam Wilson to race over.

Huby added the conversion and the tense game rested on a knife edge with Rangers holding a slender two point advantage.

That was stretched to four as the Lions were found guilty of ball stealing in the tackle and Barrett coolly slotted over the penalty goal.

Rangers then spurned two golden opportunities to seal the match when Darren Hawkyard broke the line and raced twenty metres to cross but lost the ball in a last ditch challenge and Richard Aka could not quite reach a dabbed kick through from Barrett.

The final quarter ebbed and flowed from end to end with plenty of handling errors on both sides but after Rangers were guilty of forcing one pass too many, Lions worked their way down field for Watson to crash over in a three man challenge.

NOTTINGHAM OUTLAWS 30 BRAMLEY BUFFALOES 22 - The Bay
Bramley suffered their first defeat of the season as the Outlaws threw open the title race in rip-roaring fashion, with the result in doubt until two minutes from time.

Nottingham now sit nine points behind the runaway leaders but, with two games in hand, have proved that they will have a major say in the ultimate destination of the title.

In a gripping and at times brutal match in front of a large crowd, the Outlaws led throughout and delighted coach Martin Crick was full of praise for his charges.

"It was an excellent performance, the first half in particular was the best that we have produced this season" he said.

"While we were on the back foot after the re-start, I thought the pack stood up magnificently to a fierce comeback by Bramley and we held on for a victory that we more than deserved."

Nottingham made a superb start and were in front as early as the fifth minute, a penalty taking them deep into the Bramley half and a quick tap saw the ball move down the line at pace, passing through five pairs of hands, Will Thomas stepping back inside for the score.

The opening quarter was very evenly matched as defences remained on top and as the half wore on it became apparent that the Outlaws were beginning to win the territorial battle as their pack began to wear down the Bramley front six.

A string of penalties kept the Buffaloes on the back foot as the Outlaws began to up the pace of the game and the stalemate was finally broken on the 25 minute mark when a speculative Paul Calland grubber sat up in the in-goal area and was pounced on by prop Aidan Pritchard to put the home side 8-0 ahead.

Within two minutes the hosts struck again, loose forward Simon Morton driving the ball just short of the Bramley line and on the next play, a short ball to Si Perry saw the Outlaws prop crash over from short distance in an unstoppable surge to the line.

Rob Brown added the extras from bang in front but they made a mess of the re-start as Tom Tsang fumbled the ball in his own quarter.

Bramley did not need a second invitation and straight from the resulting scrum they opened their account when in-form winger Nick Fontaine slid over in the corner to make it 14-4 at the break.

Stung by the first half, Bramley started the second strongly and began to move the ball around at pace and only last ditch tackles by Tsang and Myles Rutherford kept the visitors out.

Outlaws' scrambling defence hung on and hit back to score with a devastating counter attack.

George Strachan provided the killer blow as the nuggety second rower broke through the Bramley line and ran over full back Andy McGann to score between the posts.

The complexion of the match suddenly changed with the sending off of Buffalo Simon Speight for a high challenge on Brown in the 53rd minute.

As often happens, it was the offending team that rose to the adversity as 12-man Bramley immediately took a stranglehold on possession and began moving the ball at pace.

Nottingham withstood four back-to-back sets on their own line but their defence cracked when Chris Gardener swept in for a try for the visitors that Paul Drake converted to peg it back to 20-10.

Outlaws hit back with a rare second half attack and Ben Rutherford scored a great try, the powerful centre diving in at the corner for a fine solo effort.

However, a resurgent Bramley hit straight back and within a minute of the re-start they scored again when Jim Shuttleworth scored straight from a scrum.

With 16 minutes to play, Buffaloes threw everything they had at the Outlaws and scored the try of the match, unloading in the tackle three times for Drake to go over and add the extras to narrow the gap to two points.

Jez Cox proved to be the host's inspiration, the young Trent student charging through a gap in the Bramley defence in his own quarter, before he was finally hauled down on the Buffaloes 40 metre line.

Adam Millward, bloodied and battered after playing the whole match without a break, took the next drive and, with the Bramley defence stretched, a quick play the ball found rampaging prop Perry and the big forward crashed over from short range for his second try of the game, Jimmy Lewis converting.

EAST LANCASHIRE LIONS 50 GATESHEAD STORM 8 - Blackburn RFC
East Lancashire continued their fine form and leap-frogged their opponents to gain their highest league placing of the season with a comprehensive win.

The match started well for the home side when, in only the second minute, a long pass out wide saw Ben Williamson score in the corner.

Three minutes later, Darren Bamford increased their lead with a penalty and, playing with infused confidence, added to their advantage when a break by Tyrone Quinn saw him race 60 meters to score.

Struggling Storm conceded a penalty for holding down and quick-thinking Barry Rothwell produced a lovely sidestep from a quick play the ball to score at the side of the posts to take the score to 18-0.

Gateshead found their feet and pressure paid off when a quick play the ball caught the Lions off guard and Michael Lassen went over in the corner.

But they suffered a decisive blow right on half time when, on the last tackle, Bamford showed and went to the posts to put Easts 24-4 up at the interval.

At the start of the second half the home side increased the lead when Storm were made to suffer for conceding another penalty for holding down, as man of the match Adam Hesketh took a quick tap to dart away and score at the side of the posts.

Gateshead responded with a run around which saw Michael Dixon go over in the 50th minute.

Dropped ball saw play become untidy but the Lions scored again on the hour when Rothwell threw a dummy and went round the opposing winger.

Gateshead's cause was not helped when Rob Jones was dismissed for dissent and Lions capitalised, Warren Molloy diving over in the 64th minute.

A short pass to the supporting Mark Baggaley saw him barge over to take the home side to 46-8.

As the match neared the end an incident in a tackle resulted in Neil Emmerson being the second visitor dismissed this time for punching with, at the same time, Bamford and Lassen being sinbinned.

There was still time for the Lions to bring up the half century when good passing and support play saw Hesketh race over.