Hull’s double delight as Morley fightback proves not enough

Hull 35 Morley 31

Hull made hard work of an exasperating second half to finish with maximum points and also a spot in the next round of the Yorkshire Cup.

James Greene scored after two minutes when James Cameron delivered a low pass right to left off a close-range scrum for Greene to run onto before Cameron converted.

Morley responded in this game which doubled up as their cup meeting 15 minutes later when Bradley Marshall’s run up the right wing resulted in an inside pass for Mike Ash to finish before Simon Bradshaw’s conversion.

Hull responded when Cameron’s first-time pass from a lineout came into Joe Martin’s path and he dived over for his first try for the club before Cameron converted.

Morley countered immediately when Ben Johnson’s run to the right corner was not tracked, allowing him to pick out Danny Chamberlain to finish before Bradshaw’s conversion.

Hull scored within moments as Greene stole a bouncing ball from Morley and Alex Piercy supported to run to the five, before offloading for Martin’s second try and Cameron’s 200th point of the season from the conversion.

Greene then got the bonus point after just 25 minutes when his supporting run on the left gave Hull the overlap which Cameron picked out on the 25-metre line before the successful conversion.

Martin got his hat-trick just before the break when Matt White held the ball up during pressure then released the centre to power though from close proximity before Cameron’s conversion.

Morley came storming back in the second half with 17 unanswered points, courtesy of Karl Bradshaw and a storming solo try from Craig Field with Simon Bradshaw’s penalty in between but they were unable to retake the lead in a tense final five minutes.

Hull will face Beverley in the next round of the Yorkshire Cup on April 6.

Hull Ionians 16 Westoe 30

Hull Ionians’ enterprising 15- man rugby provided the entertainment and they were on level terms until late on and were pushing for the winning try.

Westoe managed to steal a line-out to clear their line and their eight-man rugby produced two tries in the last three minutes to give them a flattering victory and denied the hosts any league points which their enterprise deserved.

Westoe controlled possession but could do nothing with it, relying on their forwards and penalty kicks for position.

Ionians took their chance with a 45 metre penalty by James Ferguson. Westoe continued to dominate possession but did nothing useful then Hull Ionians won the ball and ran it.

Will Heylings made ground and good support play saw Oli Marns beat the cover to score.

Westoe at last ran the ball and centre David Haswell powered over, Mark Bedworth converting and adding a penalty when Hull Ionians were down to 14 men.

A drop goal by Bedworth increased the lead then a second high tackle saw Westoe down to 14 men and Ferguson kicked a penalty. Straight from the restart, Simon Hammersley made ground and good support kept the ball alive for Simon Jenkins to power over to retake the lead.

Bedworth levelled with a penalty and Westoe staged a powerful finish to steal the match. They were awarded a penalty try and Joe Maw was then driven over, Bedworth converting both.

Chester 19 Bradford & Bingley 13

Chester closed the gap to five points in the race for the play-off promotion place with this win over second-placed Bees.

With a game in hand, Chester are in the ascendancy and have an easier looking run-in.

The error-strewn Bees were left to rue Gavin Stead losing the ball when he was over the try line.

Full-back Aiden Scully scored an early try but Liam Lawton responded in the 27th minute and Rhys Hayes converted.

Full-back Patrick Coy made it 12-5 at the break.

The Bees lost Dave Muckault to the sin-bin for dissent and Chester improved their advantage to 19-5 with a try from Peter Rees.

Bees introduced Giles Hetherington into the fray and he lifted the side but it was not until the 70th minute that James Holland crossed.

Chester had a man sin-binned but held firm to claim a deserved win.

Darlington 8 Middlesbrough 8

MIDDLESBROUGH’S battle to avoid relegation continues after they settled for a draw against high-flying Darlington Mowden Park.

Tied with the clock ticking down, Middlesbrough missed two late long-range penalty kicks to leave them second bottom, albeit with two games in hand.

Middlesbrough led 5-0 at half-time with winger Jack Bircham touching down for their only try. Gavin Painter missed three penalty attempts for Park.

Three minutes after the break Middlesbrough extended their lead with full-back Simon Moore kicking a penalty.

Park opened their account on 61 minutes with scrum-half Matty Lithgow touching down. Painter missed the conversion, but with just five minutes left, he kicked a penalty to tie the scores at 8-8.

Billingham 26 Sandal 6

Sandal produced a lacklustre display and crashed to their third successive defeat since their exhilarating win over Bradford & Bingley.

Having put 39 points past Billingham earlier in the season, Sandal might have hoped for better but they never recovered from a slow start that allowed the home side two converted tries.

Greg Wood put Sandal on the board with a penalty before half-time but the second half followed a similar pattern with Billingham running in tries either side of Wood’s second penalty.

Beverley 10 Lymm 33

A DISAPPOINTING display by Beverley leaves them involved in a relegation battle with three other clubs also aiming to avoid going down alongside Rochdale.

Lymm showed far more urgency and imagination and never looked in danger of defeat. They played fast constructive rugby throughouth.

Lymm opened the scoring with a simple try when a clearance kick was charged down and fly-half Joe Knowles merely had to touch down with winger Luke Emmitt adding the conversion.

Two minutes from half-time, winger David Williamson went over in the corner for a try.

Beverley had more possession after the break but lacked penetration. Lymm added further tries by hooker Adam Bray, Knowles, and winger Jack Johnstone, Emmitt kicking all the conversions.

Winger Glen Walden eventually went over for a try to open Beverley’s account and substitute James McKay added another try late on.