by Paul Abraham
With last week’s match at Westgate Common postponed, the Buffaloes seek to bounce back from the narrow cup final loss to East Hull as they venture to the east coast of Yorkshire to take on the Scarborough Pirates.
Although the teams have played twice so fat this season with Bramley winning both games by 68-12 the Buffs are anticipating a tough challenge as the Pirates have hit a good run of form recently and had an excellent 20-14 home victory against Batley Boys last weekend.
With the season entering an exciting final phase, the Buffaloes stand proudly at the top of the division and in pole position to win the league.
The top five positions are only separated by four points as shown below:
P W L F A Points
Bramley Buffaloes 9 7 2 375 108 14
Goole Vikings 11 6 5 328 220 12
Westgate Common A 8 6 2 242 116 10
Batley Boys 8 6 2 164 119 10
Crigglestone All Blacks 10 5 5 172 282 10
* Westgate and Batley docked two points each for cancelling matches.
Meet the team – Tom Langton. Available to sponsor
Tom made his Buffaloes debut in a 66-6 thrashing of Warrington Wizards in an away match on 22 May 2011, he ended his first season by appearing in seven first team matches and scored his first try for the club in the 18-44 defeat at Valley Cougars.
The following season and switching between the centre and second row positions he totalled 12 appearances with a try coming his way in the 26-12 home victory against the Coventry Bears.
It would be nearly four years before Tom donned the amber and black shirt again as the 2016 season brought him a try against Mancunians RLFC in a 28-18 away victory.
The 2017 season was a successful one for Tom who was now settled within the forwards and appeared in 16 matches and crossed the whitewash three times, in victories against Bradford Victoria away (52-10) at home to Hull Wyke (32-10) and in the 50-24 victory at Kings Cross Park.
The campaign of 2018 brought Tom another three tries, this time in 14 appearances as he scored in the defeats at home to East Hull (12-24) and at Siddal (20-22) while crossing in the impressive 34-18 away victory at New Earswick All Blacks.
His first two-try haul in a match came in the following season as he crossed the Nottingham Outlaws line twice in the 42-0 home victory.
His other try came in a 10-30 defeat at East Hull as he completed eleven appearances that season. Due to the pandemic the Buffaloes only played one match during 2020 when Tom scored in a 12-0 victory at Milford Marlins.
With some normality returning in 2021 Tom played in seven matches, again being “Mr Consistency” with his 100% effort in every match.
With another 12 matches under his belt in 2022, which included scoring a try as he played at scrum-half due to players being injured or unavailable in the thrilling 12 try 28-32 defeat by King Cross at the West Leeds Rugby Union ground.
During the rugby league close season Tom played and starred for West Leeds RUFC before putting the amber and black back on.
Up to this weekend’s match Tom’s career totals stand at 97 first team starts and one substitute appearance with an impressive total of 16 tries, including scoring in both game against Crigglestone All Blacks this season in the 66-4 home win and the 56-0 away victory. Tom is without doubt a Buffaloes hero to fans.
If you would like to sponsor your favourite player, become a club member or join the club’s lottery then please email the club at info@bramleybuffs.com.
