National League 3

19/06/2004, 14:30

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Manchester Knights

28
34

Bramley Buffaloes

Match Report

The Buffaloes got back to winning ways on Saturday with a thrilling 34-28 victory at Manchester Knights.

The Buffaloes were always in control after two early tries but let the hosts back into it towards the end of the match.

The returning Scott Pendlebury rounded off some good approach play to touch down on 5 minutes and 8 minutes later Andy Cannon powered over for a try. Both were converted by Shaun Flynn to give the Buffaloes a commanding 12-0 lead.

Manchester hit back with a converted try on 17 minutes but normal service was resumed on 28 minutes when flying wingman Kieran McDermott went in at the corner.

The Knights hit back just before the break to reduce the arrears and leave the score 18-12 to Bramley at the turnaround.

Two quick tries after the restart restored the Buffaloes’ dominance with both Neil Foulds and Steve Gill touching down to make it 28-12. A converted try for Manchester on 57 minutes set the alarm bells ringing but giant Aussie prop Tim Orr sealed the victory as he bulldozered his way over with 15 minutes remaining.

The hosts struck twice in the final 5 minutes but the Buffaloes held on for their fourth victory of the season.

Coach Phil Hellewell was delighted with the result but not overjoyed by the performance: “We looked very good when we were going forward but once again there were defensive lapses that threatened to make it tough for ourselves.

“We started brightly but almost threw it away at the end and that is a facet of our game that we have to address. We took our foot off the pedal and let the Knights in for some silly scores.

“There were some impressive performances out there with Mark McManus playing a great game at full back however we have to learn to concentrate for the full eighty minutes!” added Phil.

 

Lineup

Name TR CON PEN DG Cards
1
2 5
3 1
4 1
5 1
6 1
7
8
9
10 1
11
12
13

Subs

Name TR CON PEN DG Cards
14
15
16
17