Wyke 28 Siddal 40

WYKE departed from the Andrew Bennett Trophy after extra-time in a dramatic second-round tie at Towngate.

The black and whites, having first use of the slope, started like a house on fire. Stand-off Barry McShera slotted a wicked grubber-kick into the corner, allowing wingman Calvin Barker to pounce and he then added the extras himself from the touchline.

Siddal hit back when they fielded the ball in their red zone and a swift passing exchange saw wingman Dominic Booth sprint to the whitewash. Stand-off Curtis Booth levelled the scores with his conversion.

Wyke restored their advantage straight from the kick-off when the Halifax visitors stood motionless, believing the ball was going to bounce into touch. However the alert Barker collected and crossed unopposed for what will be the easiest touchdown of his fledgling career.

Wyke loose forward Shaun Godfrey showed tremendous vision with a run across the defence to open up a huge gap for centre John Raynor to gallop through and McShera added another extra for a 16-6 lead.

Home aspirations were given a further boost when Booth was sent off for a high shot on Barker when the Wyke flier was again en route for what would have been his hat-trick.

The visitors fell further behind when Godfrey produced an identical run to send full back Tim Stones in at the side of the sticks, leaving McShera to make sure of full reward to close the first half 22-6.

Siddal were quick out of the blocks at the start of the second half, wingman Jim Thorpe going in at the corner, soon followed by further converted efforts from hooker Louis Hobbs and centre Max Dow as the home defence faltered.

At 22-22 Wyke went behind for the first time in the match when Siddal packman Will Calcott spun out of a tackle at the posts but they showed their true grit when scrum half Ian Watkinson kicked into space to allow Raynor the opportunity to scoop up the bounce and dive over for the equaliser, 28-28.

It was evident that the black and whites were clearly out on their feet in extra time, having given their all, and they were left with a mountain to climb when prop Simon Owen was sent to the sin bin for a tired trip of little malice.

Siddal put the seal on the victory when they barged over for two more tries to round off what had been a splendid cup tie.