Hill finish in style to sting Hornets

4:50pm Sunday 20th April 2008

Comments (0)   Have your say »

Bradford Dudley Hill 31, Wath Brow Hornets 8

Bradford Dudley Hill signed off their last home match of the league campaign with a sparkling second-half performance against promotion-seeking BARLA ACE National Cup finalists Wath Brow Hornets.

Hill formed a guard of honour beforehand to acknowledge the last game at Parry Lane for their long-serving stalwart prop Richard Bingley.

It was hard-going in the opening exchanges against a quick-thinking Wath outfit who played the ball at speed.

Not surprisingly, the visitors went ahead with an unconverted try after quick hands put centre Andy Staples clear.

Hill hit back with a break from wingman Barney Hopcroft and, when his legs were whisked away in the tackle, they took a quick tap to set up field position for stand-off Gavin Mezells to squeeze in at the corner.

The tackling from both sides was tasty to say the least as the tempo increased and a simple straight run from prop Mick McAllister gave the Hornets the lead once more.

With half-time rapidly approaching, Hill levelled matters 8-8 when the lively Hopcroft, who hails from Cockermouth, caught out his fellow Cumbrians by ploughing into their defence to reach out and plant the ball on the whitewash.

Hill started the second stanza in great style when Alex Dickinson sprinted clear to ship the ball wide, leaving his co-centre Martin Brannan to power over and scrum half Liam Jarvis kicked the first conversion of the match.

A clever exchange of passes between Jarvis and Lewis Evans saw the BARLA international, playing out of position at loose forward, in at the uprights and Jarvis made sure of full reward.

Wath were reduced in numbers following a yellow card to forward Ken Thompson for deliberate obstruction and Jarvis slotted over the penalty.

It was clear that the rampant Hill attack had shattered the visitors resolve, a point emphasised when wingman Neil Wall produced a barnstorming run to the corner flag.

Jarvis taunted them further with a long-range drop goal and then he placed a grubber kick into the gap for Evans to collect.

Evans brushed aside some flimsy Wath defence to offload to the supporting scrum half, who scooted in under the uprights to add his third conversion.

The only blot on what finished up as a romp in the park was the loss of hooker Nathan Kitson with what looked like a broken hand shortly before the close.