Dewsbury Rams 50 London Skolars 4: Red cards cast shadow on storming Dewsbury victory

Northern Rail Cup

DEWSBURY RAMS' demolition of a poor London Skolars side ended in acrimony when three players saw red in the aftermath of a controversial gouging incident.

The newly-promoted Championship side had already eased as expected to a comfortable success in the Northern Rail Cup tie when it exploded in the 78th minute.

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A touch judge entered the field after spotting the unsavoury infringement by Skolars' Liam Prescott as he was tackling Anthony England.

The towering Rams prop, who had caused mayhem with his explosive runs all afternoon, initially appeared unfazed and calmly played the ball.

However, before the official had reached the situation, he then suddenly launched an unexpected punch which instantly felled Prescott and prompted a huge melee.

The Skolars hooker required extensive on-field treatment and, in a bizarre sight, had the red card brandished at him while he was being stretchered off.

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England was also dismissed for retaliation while Skolars second-row Matt Carter received his marching orders for running in to the ensuing flare-up.

It was a disappointing manner in which to end the game for England who, along with fellow prop Keegan Hirst, had been outstanding in setting the platform for Warren Jowitt's side.

Dewsbury had won all 18 games on their way to the Championship One title last season, thrashing Skolars twice in the process, and, having strengthened during the winter, it was clear from the off that the London side would struggle against them again.

Rob Spicer powered back on an angle to hit Mike Emmett's pass and storm over from close range in only the second minute.

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Skolars competed for a spell but once one of the Rams' new signings – Rob Lunt – went over in the 16th minute, Dewsbury starved their opponents of possession and ruthlessly turned the screw.

Moments earlier, stand-off Pat Walker had walked off with a dislocated finger but they did not miss his influence, silky scrum-half Dominic Brambani simply taking full control.

Four tries in a devastating 12-minute burst did the damage, Lunt starting things off quickly followed by livewire hooker Emmett who dummied and stretched over all too easily.

Skolars could not contain his pace around the ruck and, after Brambani forced one of a number of drop outs with a perfectly-weighted kick, it was Bryn Powell's turn to profit.

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Captain Adam Hayes was the provider, delaying to perfection a long, lofted pass for the former Salford City Reds winger to finish off with ease.

In the next set, Hayes then picked a great line himself to effortlessly cruise through, just holding his balance long enough to ship out another ball for centre Scott Turner to dive over in the corner.

The elegant loose forward was unplayable as he sent Scott Watson free through a yawning gap but the substitute slackly fumbled as he casually attempted to touch down.

Skolars were grateful of the error; it meant they finally saw the ball again.

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The respite was fleeting though as Chris Spurr made a big burst down the middle, Skolars centre Matt Thomas brilliantly bringing the centre down just short only to get up to see the ball spread wide and Watson – this time with both hands – firmly placing the ball down over the whitewash.

Even when Skolars managed to get near former Sheffield Eagles star Brambani, pressuring him on the last tackle, the little playmaker still danced away and somehow got his kick off, doubling the misery on the tiring visitors by forcing another drop out in the process.

When England departed for a well-earned breather, Jowitt simply wheeled on another hard-runner in the shape of the more traditionally built prop Adam Robinson.

The squat front-rower barged through before showing an impressive turn of speed, ignoring his support to sprint in from 40 metres rounding full-back Josh Welsh and make it 34-0 at the break.

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Skolars improved in the second period forcing some pressure of their own but it did not last.

Ex-Wakefield Trinity Wildcats second-rower Spicer bumped off a Skolars defender down the middle and then kept his cool to find James Haynes who sped in between the posts.

Lunt, who slotted in well at stand-off, skipped in for his second with some fine footwork before Andy Bostock – scorer of 22 tries last season when the bulky second-rower attracted interest from Super League – brought the try-scoring into double figures.

Substitute Smokie Junor finally fired the visitors up and ensured they did not head back down the M1 on the end of a whitewash by diving over in the corner as Rams momentarily went to sleep eight minutes from time.

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But it all came to life again at the end with that flurry of red cards.

Dewsbury: Haynes; Powell, Spurr, Turner, Sanderson; Walker, Brambani; Hirst, Emmett, England, Spicer, Bostock, Hayes. Substitutes: Lunt, Smith, Robinson, Watson.

London Skolars: Welsh; Arnot, Thomas, Cunningham, Aggrey; Isles, Thorman; T Williams, Prescott, D Williams, Purslow, Carter, Ball. Substitutes: Bryan, Cook, Junor, Roach.

Referee: T Roby (England).