5:17pm Sunday 19th October 2008
By Jack Strother
Bradford Dudley Hill 16, Saddleworth Rangers 18
A flurry of punches five minutes from the end cost Dudley Hill dearly after a gripping National Conference Division One encounter with Saddleworth at Parry Lane.
At the time the hosts looked well on top and set to secure the spoils with a 16-14 advantage before the testosterone kicked in.
When the referee finally sorted out the melee, Hill duo Marvin Golden and Sheera Singh joined Rangers rival Mick Coates in the sin bin.
The visitors’ superior numbers then resulted in them snatching the match out of Hill’s grasp with a last-ditch unconverted winner.
It had all started superbly for the Bradford side when wingman Neil Wall turned try saver with a splendid man-and-ball tackle to take out his opposite number Fraser Colley in the corner.
Wall then popped up from the scrum to race 30 metres down the middle and offloaded to supporting stand-off Tony Williams. He found Golden on his shoulder, who raced to the chalk.
The Rangers defence faced a torrid time before centre Paul Gledhill increased the tally by swatting off two defenders to cross near enough for Williams to add the extras for a 10-0 lead.
Williams was on target with a penalty when Saddleworth were caught reefing the ball out and Hill breathed a sigh of relief when Rangers forward Adam Clayton had his effort ruled out for a forward pass.
But they failed to heed the lesson, leaving stand-off Emerson Jackman in acres of space and enabling full back Steve Neild to touch down, with scrum half Coates ensuring full reward.
Williams slotted over his second penalty kick when the visitors’ desperate rearguard once more illegally dislodged the ball in the tackle and Hill looked to be well on their way to victory with a 14-6 interval advantage.
But Saddleworth made a dream restart when Jackman collected a long pass to sail in out wide and Coates added the conversion.
Neild had another touchdown disallowed for a forward pass before Hill replied in kind when substitute Ben Walters was judged to have a foot in touch before he planted the ball in the corner.
Rangers drew level at 14-14 when Coates landed a penalty for obstruction but Williams restored the advantage when they were caught not square bang in front of the uprights.
Then came the rush of blood and a last-minute Colley touchdown to leave a deflated Hill thinking about what might have been in the confines of the dressing room.
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