Bramley Buffaloes had their first home game of the 2019 Yorkshire Men’s league season on Saturday when old foes, Siddal ARLFC came into town with a combination of their first and second teams, writes Martyn Cheney.
Their NCL were without a game due to Thatto Heath playing in the Challenge Cup on Sunday, a game you may have watched on BBC.
Both teams had victories in round one, the Buffaloes with a cracking win at Bentley and Siddal beating East Hull.
The Buffaloes had changes to the team that was named at training on Thursday with a few players dropping out on the morning of the game.
The game itself was poor from the home team’s point of view, with the Buffaloes never getting out of the blocks.
Mistakes, poor discipline, Siddal slowing the play down, and the Referee ‘TV’ Tony Martin’s desire to be centre of attention were all factors. From a neutral’s point of view, the game was a cracker.
The game started brightly for the Buffaloes when in the fifth minute they thought they’d crossed for the opening score of the afternoon, only for it to be called back by the referee for an unknown offence.
Four minutes later and Siddal had the first try, breaking down the clubhouse side of the pitch, taking advantage of some shoddy defence and two seemingly forward passes, which Winger Matthew Prest was on the end of the second one to score an unconverted try — giving Siddal the lead, 0-4.
In the 16th minute, the Buffaloes were over for their first try of the afternoon, when flying winger, Kieran Foster-Matthews, raced 55 metres from the despairing defenders to score. Foster Matthews added the conversion to his try, giving the Buffaloes the lead, 6-4.
On the 20-minute mark, Siddal thought they had scored again but the referee disallowed the try.
In the 33rd minute, Siddal scored again, following a shocking kick on the last tackle that went spiralling off the boot of the kick and across the field, rather than forwards. Winger Callum Holroyd caught the ball and raced away unopposed to score, while the Buffaloes looked on. The conversion attempt was unsuccessful, giving Siddal the lead, 6-8.
The score remained the same through to half time.
Three minutes into the second and the Buffaloes were found wanting again, as Siddal Centre, Eli Dow, crossed for the first of his two tries of the afternoon. The conversion was again unsuccessful. Taking the score to Bramley 6, Siddal 12.
In the 47th minute, with the Buffaloes on the attack, Stand Off Connor McGill put up a cross-field bomb, which was claimed by Siddal Winger Prest, who raced away from the defenders.
The Kieran, Forster-Matthews and Hudson gave chase and forced Prest away from the uprights and out towards the wing, before bringing him down. Not many defenders had made it back and from the play the ball, Dow crossed for his second of the afternoon, with Fullback Rourke Woolley adding the conversion, taking the score to 6-18.
On 52 minutes, the Buffaloes, in the form of man of the match, Aidan Baranyi, broke free and raced 50 metres towards the Siddal line, beating three defenders, before being brought down. As he was being tackled, he got an arm free and offloaded the ball to a supporting Buffalo, who spilt the ball in the resulting tackle.
In the 61st minute and the Buffaloes were working the ball away from their try line, and on the last tackle, McGill put up a towering Bomb, which the Siddal defender spilled, and the home side thought they were on for a repeat set in a promising position.
However, the referee had other ideas and claimed that substitute Aaron Henry, was in front of the kicker, much to the bemusement of Henry and the rest of the players. Siddal were given a relieving penalty and were on the attack again.
Two minutes later and with Siddal in a good position, the referee, awarded them a penalty for a spurious reason, the cause unknown to the writer as his signals were weak. Woolley decided to attempt the goal and put the ball over the black dot, extending the lead to 6-20.
With eight minutes to go, the Buffaloes crossed for their second try of the afternoon, when Kieran Hudson bustled his way over the line, out towards the touchline — with Foster-Matthews adding the conversion, narrowing the deficit to Bramley 12 Siddal 20.
In the 78th minute the Buffaloes were on the attack again, and despite the crowd and players seeing a Siddal knock on, the referee awarded head and feed to Siddal. At the Scrum, the referee penalised the Buffaloes for striking at the ball. And the chance had gone.
Two plays later and the referee blew for time, with the score Bramley 12 Siddal 20.
The Buffaloes have no game next week due to Easter and are back in action on the 27th April when we travel to East Hull. Full details of the game will be online in the next few days.
Bramley Buffaloes: 1) Luke Standing, 2) Kieran Foster-Matthews, 3) Brandon Batchelor, 4) Kieran Hudson, 5) Robert Brown, 6) Connor McGill, 7) Bradley Wilson, 8) Charlie McMurray, 9) Jake Barnett, 10) Daniel Steel, 11) Thomas Langton, 12) Daniel Baranyi, 13) Aidan Baranyi, Subs (All Used); 14) Richard Fenty, 15) Aaron Henry, 16) Thomas Barraclough.
Tries: Foster-Matthews (16), Hudson (72)
Goals Foster-Matthews x 2
Siddal: 1) Rourke Woolley, 2) Matthew Prest, 3) Aaron Metcalfe, 4) Eli Dow, 5) Callum Holroyd, 6) Josh Greenwood Macdonald, 7) Thomas Hirst, 8) Byron Smith, 9) Jake Turner, 10) Keenan Ramsden, 11) Leo Dow, 12) Maxwell Dow, 13) Wilf Moxon, Subs (All Used); 14) Mason Scott-Tinkler, 15) Jacob Ellis, 16) Dominic O’Keefe, 17) Alex Oldroyd.
Tries: Prest (9), Holroyd (33), Eli Dow (43,47/0
Goals: Woolley x 2
Men of the Match:
Bramley Buffaloes: Aidan Baranyi
Siddal: Dominic O’Keefe
