Wyke 10, Hunslet Club Parkside 24

A TOWERING display from packman Steve Richardson could not prevent Wyke crashing to a home Pennine League defeat.

Honours were just about even in the opening quarter of the Division Two clash at Towngate but Wyke should have opened the scoring when a golden opportunity presented itself.

A wild pass led to wingman Shaun Barker dropping the ball with a clear route to the whitewash on offer. However, centre Jimmy Wain then saved the home side's bacon by kicking the ball dead behind his line when the visitors pressed strongly.

The first breach in the home rearguard came when the referee missed a ball-steal in the tackle, allowing Parkside use of the extra man to put centre Tony Addinall over in the corner.

Hunslet then doubled their tally when full back Luke Medley crossed out wide after the black and whites generously conceded a brace of silly penalties.

The introduction of substitute forward Richardson revived home fortunes via some strong hit-ups – and when he was lifted and dumped in an illegal tackle, Wyke took a tap-and-run penalty, allowing full back Tim Stones to join the line and plunge over by the corner flag.

The touchline conversion attempt from scrum half Brad Ellis fell just under the bar to see the sides change ends 8-4 in the visitors' favour.

Wyke's fragile defence out wide was once again caught badly napping when wingman Ben Jaques raced over.

But home hopes were rekindled when Richardson took a delayed pass from stand-off Ian Watkinson to crash over at the side of the posts, leaving Ellis to add the extras.

Unfortunately the euphoria did not last long, Wyke knocking on behind their own line from the kick-off, and the Leeds outfit produced another bout of crisp passing to send second-row forward Reece Brogden cantering to the chalk.

This was soon followed by another converted effort from prop forward Scott Armitage, who took advantage of tired home legs to bulldoze his way to the line.

The hosts, to their credit, closed ranks effectively, with hooker Corby Kitson creating a number of darting runs from the ruck, one of which led to Stones being pulled to ground after a 40-metre dash.

But the visitors had more fuel in the tank and finished the game with panache to leave the black and whites still searching for their first win of the campaign.