Waterhead out

WATERHEAD were edged out of the BARLA National Cup 18-16 at home by Castleford Lock Lane.

Having lost 26-16 to the visitors in the league in November, coach Mick Slicker’s men crept closer to a victory which would have been well-earned, only for a pair of tries late on to spoil their chances of making it into the last 16.

Alan Williamson opened the scoring for the home team only for Lock Lane to equalise five minutes later and they could easily have led as the teams changed ends.

As it was, Waterhead’s man-of-the-match, scrum-half Michael Diveny, showed some good skills to score under the posts, Terry Fitzgerald converting.

Again, though, Lock Lane came back to level the scores before under-18s full-back Michael Bennett went over down the middle, Fitzgerald adding the extras.

It looked to be Waterhead’s game at this point but a pair of late tries left them seeking revenge against the same opposition next week, this time in the first round of the Carnegie Challenge Cup.

Saddleworth Rangers have made it into the National Cup’s fourth round stage, though they were forced to work hard for a 30–22 home win over Hensingham.

The visitors took an early lead with a converted try before Rangers man-of-the-match Jason Best created a try for Tom Lever. Michael Coates then went in for a score which he also converted, only for Hensingham to regain the advantage with a try which saw them lead 12-10 at the break.

A determined drive from Simon Parrish under the posts, converted by Coates, saw Rangers edge in front, before Adam Walker and Hensingham’s Reece Fox were sent off for fighting.

Hensingham levelled it up on 50 minutes and pair of penalties for the visitors were then answered by a Liam Coates try, scooting over from acting half-back, with Michael Coates adding the extras for a 22-20 lead.

A Gareth Davies try followed, again converted by Coates, to make the game safe for Saddleworth before the teams exchanged penalties with time running out.

Oldham St Anne’s didn’t make it through to the Challenge Cup first round, losing 30-16 at home to Wigan St Jude’s.

A pair of tries and a penalty put the visitors 14-0 up, with Aussie debutant Kyle Debreceny going closest for St Anne’s in that period, before Paul Garrett sent in Ryan Blake for the first of his two tries .

A further score for the visitors made it 20-4 at half-time before Blake’s second, converted by Kiel Lancashire, gave the home support some hope.

But a one-on-one steal on Dane English after he had beaten four defenders coming out from his own line led to a converted try for the Wigan side and proved to be a turning point. Lancashire converted his own try three minutes later but with five minutes on the clock, St Jude’s were in again to make the game safe.