Clinical Henry Too Good For Steelers
by Andy Coldrick
Bramley Buffaloes 34 (24) v Hull Dockers Steelers 10 (10)
Bramley Buffaloes continued their impressive unbeaten start to the season with a comfortable 34-10 victory over Hull Dockers Steelers on Sunday at the Warrels.
Despite playing all the second half with only 12 men after prop Dave Jennings was dismissed on the stroke of half-time, the Buffaloes ran out comfortable winners for the second time this season against the much fancied Steelers. Aaron Henry was Bramley’s star man again, touching down four times with consummate ease to take his try tally to 12 so far this season, including three hat-tricks.
Jack Young returned to the team after making three appearances for us in 2014 (and scoring three tries), while Nathan Hargreaves made his debut off the bench. The core of the team remained the same as coach Steve Langton hoped to keep up the pressure on league leaders Odsal Sedbergh.
Hull Dockers kicked off in front of a crowd of around 130 on a sunny, blustery day. Bramley completed their first set without any alarms, finishing with a long raking touch finder from Connor McGill. There was nothing in the early exchanges until on 5 minutes the Dockers left centre pushed through some weak tackling to release Smyth to score by the posts, Carrick converted. Bramley’s reply was almost immediate, Steelers were penalised on the re-start, Dave Jennings put in another strong drive before excellent footwork from Aiden Baranyi put the supporting Sam Wilson lover under the posts, McGill converted. That try sparked a period of Buffaloes dominance which saw them (or Romeo) post 3 unanswered tries in the space of 6 minutes, all scored by Romeo. The first came on 16 minutes when Romeo chimed into the line and went over with ease from 15m out, 3 minutes later after a strong Joe Mathers run out of defence and good ball handling close to the line, Romeo somehow sneaked an arm out under intense pressure to score, McGill adding a superb touch-line conversion in off the upright. Two minutes later after Hull Dockers were caught short with a fractured defensive line, Romeo weaved his way past numerous bemused defenders from the half way line and out-paced a tiring defence to score with ease under the posts again, McGill converted, 24-6 after 23 minutes.
The rest of the half was a very scrappy affair with both teams caught offside on numerous occasions and the referee quick to intervene over any minor infringement. This led to both sets of players becoming frustrated as the game lost its flow. Hull Dockers had Valentine sin-binned for dissent and were placed on a team warning, shortly afterwards Bramley were placed on a team warning. On a rare Steelers attack Jack Smyth squeezed over in the right corner on 36 minutes. Dave Jennings was dismissed on the stroke of half-time for alleged punching, this seemed a very harsh decision but the referee immediately went to his pocket to show Dave a straight red.
The second half continued to be very scrappy. Both teams were guilty of too many infringements which were immediately penalised and Bramley wasted 3 or 4 guilt edge chances to add more points due to dropped ball or misplaced passes.
After early Steelers pressure Romeo scored his fourth try on 48 minutes when he again joined the attacking line 15m out and cut through a defence that had no idea how to stop him. At this point Bramley were playing with 11 men as Cameron McLachlan had been sent to the sin bin for a high tackle. Connor McGill’s long cut-out pass on 53 minutes was well collected by debutant Nathan Hargreaves playing on the left win, and he coolly scored a good try in the corner, no conversion this time, 34-10. The remainder of the half passed with a player from each team being sin binned.
Bramley Buffaloes probably missed 3 or 4 good opportunities to add to their score, nevertheless if you had offered the Steve Langton and his team a comfortable 34-10 home win before the game the chances are they would have taken it.
This coming Saturday the Buffaloes entertain Odsal Sedbergh at the Warrels, 2.30pm kick-off. This is a top of the table clash with both teams unbeaten after 5 games apiece. This promises to be a cracker; so please come along, bring a friend, or two, and be part of a big crowd cheering the Black and Amber on and on and on …..
Bramley Buffaloes – 1) Aaron Henry, 2) Joe Mathers, 3) Richard Fenty, 4) Kieran Hudson, 5) Jack Young, 6) Connor McGill, 7) Brad Wilson, 8) Charlie McMurray, 9) Jack Sykes, 10) Dave Jennings, 11) Aiden Baranyi, 12) Tom White, 13) Sam Wilson, Subs; 14) Nathan Hargreaves, 15) Alex Coop, 18) Daniel Baranyi, 17) Connor McLachlan
Tries – Wilson (S) (7), Henry (16,20, 22 & 48), Hargreaves (53),
Goals – McGill (5/6)
Steelers – 1) Dylan Rawlings, 2) Craig Robinson, 3) James Smyth, 4) Ben Smyth, 5) Luke Valentine, 6) Josh Farr, 7) James Carrick, 8) Simon Hewick, 20) Jarred Ashman, 10) Dave Bade, 11) Luke Hewick, 12) Lee Harris, 13) Josh Fitzgerald, Subs; 14) Callum Crowther, 17) Matty McNee, 15) Adam Marshall, 16) Ricky Preston
Tries – Smyth B (5), Smyth J (35)
Goals – Carrick (1/2)
Man-of-Match –
Buffaloes: Aaron Henry
Steelers: Dave Bade