Hensingham opened their winning account for 2024 with a six-try win at Bentley - Match Report:
It was a big day for the Doncaster club as they welcomed Tony Sutton from the RFL, CEO Carl Hall from Doncaster, and local MP Ed Milliband to mark the official opening of their long-planned clubhouse, which has become reality with the assistance of legacy funding from RL World Cup 2021 and opened their NCL Division Three campaign.
Initially, Bentley had the better of things with second row Ryan Craswell and fullback Alex Bates catching the eye, but gradually Hensingham made inroads and opened the scoring when Workington dual registered forward and former Hens skipper Luke Charlton ran and released at exactly the right time for Deon Crowe to go through untouched and dive joyously under the posts. Jay Weatherill, who joined from Wath Brow Hornets in pre-season, added the first of five goals.
It was now Bentley's turn to attack with their middle forwards setting the platform and captain Scott Smith industrious, but the visitors' defence was good and they went further ahead on the back of a Weatherill intercept. Although the fullback was brilliantly chased down, the ball quickly moved right on the next tackle and Callum Morgan went over. Now trailing by 0-10, Bentley rallied but another intercept on a Jonny Marshall pass, this time from Reuben Butterworth saw the winger put the hammer down from 50 metres and the goal made it 0-16 at half-time.
The hosts again had the better of things at the start of the second half and were rewarded after impressive Nathan Marchant did all the running before Marshall went over. It was too far out for Jack Craswell to goal. Hensingham had to weather a storm, but they came out of the other side well and Weatherill increased their advantage to 4-22 in the 64th minute, before skipper Jack Kellett showed tremendous awareness near the line and forced his way over four minutes later.
Bentley rallied to claim further consolation through Jordan Seaman and Jack Craswell converted, but the day was Hensingham's as last season's top try scorer Daniel McGarry raced through after an error from a kick to get his first score of 2024. Weatherill goaled and then added a penalty from halfway after Bentley kicked the ball out on the full to complete the 10-34 success.
National Conference League Round 2 Round-Up:
In the Premier Division, a couple of tries from Tyler Dargan and a superb performance from fullback Craig McShane helped Hunslet ARLFC to a 34-10 win over Lock Lane. Rochdale Mayfield hosted Siddal and emerged with a 22-14 win, while a hat-trick from AJ Chambers was the highlight of West Hull's 36-6 defeat of West Bowling. Kells won against local rivals Egremont Rangers 24-8 while Thatto Heath enjoyed a 30-20 victory over Wath Brow Hornets.
A late penalty secured a 22-21 on-the-road victory for Stanningley at Clock Face Miners in Division One. Dewsbury Moor made it two wins from two with a comfortable 34-16 win over Crosfields with the Warrington side having too much to do after trailing 22-0 at half-time. Leigh Miners Rangers got a narrow win at Oulton Raiders by 12-16 and Wigan St Pats beat Hull Dockers 38-12. Skirlaugh also won their first home game of the year, edging Woolston 24-22 and Ince Rose Bridge also won 26-12 against Waterhead in a game the referee called early after an injury to Bridge player Kyle Malone.
Division Two again saw several close games with Normanton Knights and Dewsbury Celtic's 10-all draw being the stand out. Millom beat Pilkington Recs 22-12, while Saddleworth and Oldham St Annes celebrated successes with 36-24 and 20-8 wins over Ellenborough Rangers and Wigan St Judes respectively. Shaw Cross Sharks made the short trip to Thornhill Trojans and won 36-12 and there was a resounding 44-14 win for Barrow Island over Myton Warriors.
Elsewhere in Division Three, Distington beat Milford 22-0 while East Leeds finally saw off a determined Seaton Rangers 16-6. Drighlington, inspired by two tries from Joe Sheldon and a hat-trick from Sam Thornton, beat Leigh East 39-18.
Results (9/10 March 2024):
Premier Division:
Hunslet ARLFC 34 Lock Lane 10
Hunslet. T – Dargan 2, Wheeler 2, Dearden, Hullock; G – J Gale 5
Lane. T – Butler, Moon; G – Butler
Kells 24 Egremont Rangers 8
Miners. T – Ennis, Murtagh, G Gainford, Chambers; G – Wear 4
Rangers. T – Preston, Crellin
Rochdale Mayfield 22 Siddal 14
Mayfield. T – McDaid 2, Hamlett, Metcalfe; G – Parr 3
Siddal. T – Turner, Walsh; G – Ackroyd 3
Thatto Heath Crusaders 30 Wath Brow Hornets 20
Crusaders. T – Saunders, Lea, Tracey, Pike, Pinder; G – Dickinson 5
Hornets. T – Holgate, Curwen 2, Dawson; G – Walker-Taylor 2
West Hull 36 West Bowling 6
West Hull. T – Chambers, Arbon 2, Wood, Shore, Moore, Opie-Palmer; G – Wilson 3, Welburn
Bowling. T – Lincoln; G - Wright
York Acorn v Heworth
Postponed - Acorn in the Betfred Challenge Cup
Division One:
Clock Face Miners 21 Stanningley 22
Miners. T – Daniels, Morgan, Geraghty; G – Geraghty 3, Benson; FG - Benson
Stanningley. T – Moorhouse, Weston, Phipps; G – Taylor 5
Dewsbury Moor Maroons 34 Crosfields 16
Maroons. T – Butterfield 2, Woodcock, Berry, Markland, James; G – Walker 5
Soap. T – Clutterbuck, Holliday, Liku; G – Stanway 2
Ince Rose Bridge 26 Waterhead Warriors 12
Bridge. T – Shaw, Fillingham, Boyd, Holcroft; G – R Valentine 4, P Valentine
Warriors. T – Morrison, Greener; G – Hamilton 2
Oulton Raiders 12 Leigh Miners Rangers 16
Raiders. T – Holdsworth, Walpole, Metcalfe
Miners. T – Lancelot, Grimes, Parkes; G – Williamson 2
Skirlaugh 24 Woolston Rovers 22
Skirlaugh. T – Jack Danby 2, Oliver, Gilbey; G – Gilbey 4
Rovers. T – Dixon 2, Roper, H Files; G – Lawton 2, Leonard
Wigan St Patricks 38 Hull Dockers 12
Pats. T – Taylor 3, Smith, Glover 2, Thompson; G – Smith 5
Dockers. T – Dearlove, Suddaby; G – Suddaby 2
Division Two:
Barrow Island 44 Myton Warriors 14
Island. T – Corrie, McBain, Wilson 2, Dutton-Rosconie, Wright, Ford 2; G – Jones 6
Warriors. T – A Liddell, B Liddell, L Ward; G - Fox
Millom 22 Pilkington Recs 12
Woolybacks. T – Harris, Blinkhorn, Terrill, Postlethwaite; G – Postlethwaite 3
Recs. T – Key, Martin; G – Liptrot 2
Normanton Knights 10 Dewsbury Celtic 10
Knights. T – Banwell, Davey; G – Jacob Crossland
Celtic. T – Yarrow 2; G - Cummins
Oldham St Annes 20 Wigan St Judes 8
Annes. T – Etchells, Pogson, Zaffio; G – Pogson 3, Rose
Judes. T – Turner, Dugdale
Saddleworth Rangers 36 Ellenborough Rangers 24
Saddleworth. T – Molden, F Wilson, Dodd, Howe, Charles, Dalloway; G – McManus 6
Elbra. T – Taylor, R Wilson, Okesene, Hoban; G – Winter 4
Thornhill Trojans 12 Shaw Cross Sharks 36
Trojans. T – Gibson, Ratcliffe; G – Gibson 2
Sharks. T – French 3, Windrow, Stephenson, Ashen 2; Tomlinson 4
Division Three:
Bentley 10 Hensingham 34
Bentley. T – Marshall, Seaman; G – J Craswell
Hens. T – D Crowe, Morgan, Butterworth, Weatherill, Kellett, McGarry; G – Weatherill 5
Distington 22 Milford 0
Distington. T – J Friel, L Friel, Worthington, Speight; G – George 3
Drighlington 39 Leigh East 18
Drig. T – Sheldon 2, Thornton 3, Barnes, Hallas; G – J Sanderson 5; FG – J Sanderson
East. T – Lee, Reeder, Grainey; G – Holland 2, Reeder
East Leeds 16 Seaton Rangers 6
East Leeds. T – Wilson 2, Wood, Riley
Rangers. T – Mason; G - Williamson
Upcoming fixtures (Saturday 16 March 2024):
Premier Division:
Egremont Rangers v Wath Brow Hornets
Heworth v West Hull
Hunslet ARLFC v Thatto Heath Crusaders
Lock Lane v Rochdale Mayfield
West Bowling v Siddal
York Acorn v Kells
Division One:
Crosfields v Woolston Rovers
Hull Dockers v Oulton Raiders
Ince Rose Bridge v Leigh Miners Rangers
Skirlaugh v Wigan St Patricks
Stanningley v Dewsbury Moor Maroons
Waterhead Warriors v Clock Face Miners
Division Two:
Dewsbury Celtic v Barrow Island
Myton Warriors v Millom
Normanton Knights v Saddleworth Rangers
Pilkington Recs v Oldham St Annes
Shaw Cross Sharks v Ellenborough Rangers
Wigan St Judes v Thornhill Trojans
Division Three:
Beverley v Bentley
Drighlington v Distington
Featherstone Lions v East Leeds
Seaton Rangers v Hensingham
By Dave Parkinson
