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Siddal beat Ovenden 12-10  in Halifax Cup Final

Siddal beat Ovenden 12-10 in Halifax Cup Final

Joe McCormack22 Apr 2019 - 16:58
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Hosts edge home in close encounter

Siddal's Yorkshire Men's League squad beat Ovenden in a very competitive game on Easter Monday at Chevinedge, to lift the Halifax ARL Championship. Ovenden could only raise 14 men but they gave their all to push Siddal all the way and nearly forced extra time at the end of the game.

Both teams were probing in the early exchanges, with Callum Holroyd taking the high balls that were being aimed towards him. Ovenden looked like they might take the lead after 20 minutes, when Sean Smith kicked behind the Siddal defence, but Josh Brown knocked on in trying to dive on the ball, a pattern that would be repeated, as both teams let try scoring opportunities slip by.

Danny Rushworth and Eddie Ainley were driving Siddal forward and Siddal went ahead on 26 minutes. Christian Ackroyd made the break and skipper Ainley was supporting to take the pass and sprint under the posts, to leave Rourke Woolley with a simple kick for a 6-0 lead. Siddal were having their best spell of the game and on the half hour Jake Smith moved the ball out wide and Matty Prest knocked on when trying to ground the ball. Five minutes later another Ainley break was backed up by Henry Turner, but the scrambling Ovenden defence recovered to smother the chance. Ovenden second rower Luke O'Mara was having a great game and he was supported well by stand off Sean Smith.

There was no further scoring as the half closed 6-0 to Siddal and they came out strongly in the second period as Matthew Turner's pass was taken by Aaron Metcalfe and he sped over the line to increase the lead to 10-0 after 43 minutes.

Ovenden hit back after 48 minutes when another Sean Smith kick caused confusion in the Siddal defence and Smith pounced on the bouncing ball to score. He improved the try with a conversion to close the gap to 10-6.

Rourke Woolley hit a penalty after 65 minutes to take the scores to 12-6 to Siddal,but Ovenden refused to lie down. O'Mara continued to drive the ball forward, and he was aided by prop Joe Tuck. In the last 5 minutes, Ovenden forced two repeat sets as they piled on the pressure, with intelligent kicking from the half backs. They scored with the last play of the game, when Nathan Brown squeezed in at the corner flag, but the kick was just wide and the whistle blew before play could restart, as Siddal won the trophy 12-10.

Danny Rushworth was named man-of-the match, for an all action 80 minutes display. He was run close by Eddie Ainley and Luke O'Mara.

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