Andy & Devon Johnson
The Buffaloes met a strong and well-drilled Kings Cross side on a humid afternoon in Halifax, where Bramley took the field with a mix of established first-team players and players stepping up from the A-team.
The game started brightly with strong tackling from the Buffaloes and powerful running up-field by prop Andy Ali who went in for the Buffaloes’ opening try after just 2 minutes of play. This was converted by Martin Loveridge. Buffaloes 6:0 King Cross.
In the opening 30 minutes, the two sides looked evenly matched, and both teams drilled into one another, trying to carve out an opening.
On 27 minutes, King Cross collected a loose ball on their own 20m line, and despite the Bramley cover defender chasing them down over a 60 metres sprint, they could not prevent a converted try from being scored wide-out. Buffaloes 6:6 King Cross.
While both teams played well and showed the promise of further points being added to the scoreboard, King Cross had the better end to the first half. With just minutes to go before the half-time whistle was blown, they managed to score 2 converted tries on the 38th and 40th minute. This left the Halifax side with a rather flattering 18:6 lead. Half Time Buffaloes 6: 18 King Cross.
Bramley started the second half with a determination to even the score, and on the 47th minute, Codey Downey broke through the strong wall of defence. He proceeded to sprint 40+ metres and planted the ball over the line to give Bramley the opening try of the second half. This was converted by Martin Loveridge. Bramley 12:18 King Cross.
King Cross, however, had a quick response. In the 52nd minute, a try was made out of nowhere as Connor McGill kicked the ball downfield on the Buffaloes last tackle. As they so often do, the ball bounced wickedly and managed to evade the Buffaloes’ cover. This left the King’s Cross winger with the simple job of bounding over the line with the ball near the corner flag. This was converted, leaving the score; Buffaloes 12:24 King Cross.
Soon after, King Cross went in for a further converted try in the 55th minute to widen the score to Buffaloes 12: 30 King Cross. Although the Buffaloes were behind, this still somewhat flattered the King Cross side, who had to work very hard for every metre gained.
As the second half played out, the Buffaloes pack worked hard with some very strong tackling and this cumulated in an opportunists try for Lochlan Mcgill, who went in from 5 metres at the side of the posts. Martin Loveridge successfully kicked the goal bring the Buffaloes up to 18:30
The Buffaloes maintained the pressure and fell just short on a couple of occasions before the referee sent Andrew Ali, who was arguably the Buffaloes man of the match, to the sin bin after a series of robust Buffalo tackles had put them on a team warning.
After receiving two tackle resets, King Cross took advantage of the extra man and were awarded a penalty under the posts. They took the opportunity to secure their win by kicking the goal in the 65th minute. Buffaloes 18: 32. Only a minute later, King Cross managed to score another converted try making the score Buffaloes 18:38 King Cross.
This was the final score of the match, and King Cross did deserve to win.
The Buffaloes, however, played their full part in the match and impressed the supportive crowd in many ways. With a little more luck and the bounce of the ball going the right way, the final score could have easily have been much closer. Final Score Buffaloes 18: 38 King Cross.
Buffaloes; 1) Jack Wilson, 2) Connor Booth, 3) Codey Downey, 4) Kes Hudson, 5) Billy Butterworth, 6) Codey Downey 7) Connor McGill, 8) Craig Dobbs 9) Lochlan McGill, 10) Andrew Ali, 11) Tom Langton, 12) Daniel Mitchell, 13) Tom Welford, Subs (all used) 14) Charlie McMurray, 15) Kieran McFarlane 16) Ben Wilkinson.
Tries: Andrew Ali (2), Downey (47), Lochlan McGill (60)
Goals Martin Loveridge 2, 47 & 60
King Cross; 1) Josh Hunt, 2) Lewis Jones, 3) Johnny Sims, 4) Adam Crowther, 5) John Sims, 6) Louie Inman 7) Will Milner, 8) Richard Humphrey 9) Aaron Brook, 10) Chris Nuttall, 11) Tom Metcalfe, 12) Lewis Tidswell, 13) Lee Brook, Subs (all used) 14) Ben Helliwell, 15) Luke Hand, 16) Jackson Wood, 17) Dan Smith.