West Hull maintained their superb form during the second half of the season with a well-deserved win at Rochdale Mayfield in the latest game broadcast on the Our League App. It was West Hull's ninth in a row and keeps them hot on the heels of Hunslet ARLFC at the summit of the Premier Division.
Two tries from centre Jack Watts and five goals from Ryan Wilson helped the visitors get past the challenge of Rochdale Mayfield, who scored three tries of their own, including a sparkling team effort finished by Jack McConnachie.
The first ten minutes were fierce with West Hull winning the battle for territory before Watts found himself in enough space on the left to score. Minutes later Ryan Steen released a perfect pass that saw Oscar Ellerington charge over Mayfield's Jordan Parr to claim West Hull's second score and two goals from Wilson helped the visitors to a 0-12 lead.
Mayfield struck back with an acrobatic dive into the right corner from Kristian McVeigh but Parr was unable to convert and the host's cause wasn't helped when Dec Sheridan was forced from the field with what looked like a hamstring issue. At the other end the athletic Elliott Jones, who was very good at fullback for West Hull, skipped past four defenders before grounding the ball for his 11th try of the NCL season and Wilson nudged over his third goal to make it 4-18. To their credit, Mayfield struck again before half-time after James McDaid and McConachie combined on a break before Harry Sheridan kicked wide, Wayne English collected, Dakota Tolhurst followed and offloaded back to English in contact who scrambled over in the left corner for his 10th try of the NCL season. Parr couldn't convert and the sides went in at halftime with West Hull leading 8-18.
The visitors kept the scoreboard ticking with a 53rd-minute Wilson penalty, but Mayfield were now enjoying the better of the game. Try as they might, they were unable to get through a resolute defence despite this period of dominance, and again West Hull elected to go for goal from a penalty in the 67th minute which extended their advantage to 8-22. Mayfield's persistence paid off with the quality team try to McConnachie after Devlin Long put McDaid in space and Mcveigh and Luke Fowden combined to move the ball inside for the second row forward to dot down under the posts. Long converted to give them hope at 14-22, but was sin-binned in the closing stages after questioning the decisions of referee Denton Arnold. West Hull decided the contest late on when a measured kick from Josh Wood was collected by Watts for him beat a scrambling McVeigh to the line. Although Wilson couldn't goal, West Hull celebrated the 14-26 win.
Hunslet ARLFC still top the Premier Division but only after withstanding a second-half fightback at relegation-threatened Leigh Miners Rangers. The visitors had been 18-0 up at half-time but were left sweating at the end, eventually prevailing 18-14.
Wath Brow Hornets also had a close run thing against Lock Lane, holding out to win 28-24, while Thatto Heath saw off the challenge of Wigan St Pats 32-14, Siddal's late-season push for the top six continued with a 48-4 defeat of Kells while Hull Dockers went down 74-0 at York Acorn.
West Bowling are the first team to win promotion after a 40-24 success over Pilkington Recs in Division One. The Bradford side have won all but one of their seventeen games and have got the job done with three games to spare. Defeat edges the visitors closer to the drop, four points adrift with only six points left to play for.
Egremont Rangers and Heworth maintained their push for promotion with wins over Oulton Raiders (40-10) and Clock Face Miners (4-36) respectively, while Stanningley topped fifty points against Thornhill Trojans.
Waterhead are now firmly in control at the top of Division Two following a 26-12 derby success against Saddleworth Rangers, although Dewsbury Moor Maroons also defeated Milford 48-18 to remain two points behind. There is still an almighty scramble to claim a play-off berth with Shaw Cross Sharks and Woolston Rovers in third and fourth respectively. Shaw Cross won 31-16 at Myton Warriors while a last-minute penalty miss denied Woolston a home win over Normanton. The 13-12 win for the Knights moves them into 6th place, with Dewsbury Celtic and Wigan St Judes tucked in behind them. The two clubs met at Crows Nest Park with Judes emerging victorious 22-24. Barrow Island strengthened their grip on fifth place with a 24-16 win over East Leeds.
In Division Three Leigh East rounded off a much-improved campaign with a 28-22 away win at league leaders Oldham St Annes, who now face a one-game shoot-off with Ellenborough Rangers, who were inactive this week, for the title. Millom enjoyed a 30-10 home success over Drighlington, who could still make the play-offs depending on the results of their games in hand, while Bentley edged into a play-off position courtesy of a 20-4 win at Eastmoor Dragons. Hensingham and Beverley fought out an entertaining 20-20 draw.
Here are this week's fixtures as teams catch up on some of their missing games.
Fixtures
Thursday, August 10, 2023
- Premier Division: Lock Lane v Siddal
- Division One: Crosfields v Clock Face Miners
- Division Two: Waterhead Warriors v East Leeds
- Wigan St Judes v Normanton Knights
Friday, August 11, 2023
- Premier Division: Wigan St Patricks v Rochdale Mayfield
Saturday, August 12, 2023
- Division Three: Millom v Eastmoor Dragons
