Buffaloes Grind Out Win
On a wet but warm afternoon the Buffaloes took on the West Hull Lions, before the Buffaloes fans. The pitch was firm underfoot but the grass was slick following several downpours during the morning making possession vital.
The first score came in the 12th minute when Liam Copland scored out wide for an unconverted try, giving the Buffaloes a four point lead.
The next period of the game was end to end action interspersed with handling errors caused by the wet playing surface, with both teams trying to gain the upper hand and out muscle the other team in defence. In the 29th minute the Buffaloes were in again when full back Arron Henry, chased a neat kick by Scrum Half, Andy Bottomley from the scrum base and scored under the posts, with Henry converting his own try increasing the lead to 10-0.
Four minutes later, Wests were on the board when Hooker, Liam East, stepped the flaying Buffaloes defence, who were wrong footed by the conditions, and scored under the posts, with Lennox Green converting the try narrowing the lead to 10-6.
The score remained the same until the 75th minute, when Henry broke the Wests defence, to score near the posts and he again converted his own try making the score 16-6.
Wests were on the attack as the clock ticked down and putting some serious pressure on the Buffaloes line and in the 80th minute centre Lewis Jackson broke the tiring defence to score an unconverted try, narrowing the lead to 16-10.
Wests were pressing during injury time for the score that would hopefully level the game for them but winger Copland scooped up a loose pass and was away hotfooting it past the despairing defence for a try under the posts, which he converted himself to bring the score to 22-10. As the ball sailed over the cross bar, the referee blew for time, giving the Buffaloes a much needed victory.
Game Breaker – Aaron Henrys second try took the game just out of reach of the valiant West Hull team.
Buffaloes: 1) Aaron Henry, 2) Garry Butterfield, 3) Omar Al Rawi, 4) John Mojsa, 5) Liam Copland, 6) Steve Suddards, 7) Andy Bottomley, 8) Gareth Husdon, 9) Chris Green, 10) Ryan Jackson, 11) Matthew Harding, 12) Alex Brier, 13) Jonny Bradley, Subs; 14) Ben Dean, 15) Phil Hedley, 16) Rikk Sumner, 17) Ben Tatterson
Tries: Henry (29, 75), Copland (12, 80)
Goals: Henry (2 from 3), Copland (1 from 1)
West Hull: 1) Reece Lazenby, 2) Roy Jackson, 3) Jack Watts, 4) Lewis Jackson, 5) Dan Core, 6) Lennox Green, 7) Benn Arbon, 8) Ash Shaw, 9) Liam East, 10) Callum Lane, 11) Adam Philips, 12) Ben Coupland, 13) Dean Thompson, Subs: 14) Jamie Bell, 15) Liam Moss, 16) Mcauley Longley, 17) Lee Cator
Tries: East (33), Jackson (80)
Goals: Green (1 from 2)
Men of the match
Buffaloes – Matthew Harding
West Hull – Ash Shaw