Stand-off steals show as Saddleworth rock high-flying Miners

Photo: Chris Sunderland

SADDLEWORTH’S Matt Bottom storms clear.

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AMATEUR RUGBY LEAGUE: MICHAEL Coates was the star of the show as Saddleworth produced the performance of the season to defeat Leigh Miners Rangers 22-10.

Arriving at Shaw Hall Bank Road as leaders of National Conference League Premier Division, the visitors were in confident mood having accumulated a run of six successive victories.

But they didn’t manage a single point after registering a pair of tries and a goal for a 10-8 lead with 14 minutes gone.

Saddleworth turned up the heat and stand-off Coates ran home two tries and registered no less than seven goals on a productive afternoon.

Coach Keith Brennan said: “Defensively we were fantastic and it just shows that we can compete at this level.”

The home side opened up with a Coates goal. Tries from visiting centre John Woods and second row Adam Thomason, plus a Ross Bradley goal sandwiched a try by Coates, showing good support play, which was added to by a conversion and then a penalty to draw level at 10-10.

A break by Saddleworth prop pair Matt Bottom and James Greenwood ended with Coates running home another try after 24 minutes and a further penalty earned an eight-point interval lead.

There was no further score until eight minutes from the end, when Coates sent another kick between the uprights, repeating the dose at the end of a competitive clash in which Bottom and Jimmy Muir were sent off a minute from full-time for fighting.


WATERHEAD produced a spirited second-half fightback but the game was already up against Saw Cross Sharks in Division Two.
The visitors had run up a huge 30-0 lead by half-time at Waterhead Park. Centre Shaun Squires bagged a try and three goals and there were other touch downs for full-back Pat Foulstone, winger Andy Bird and substitutes Mark Flynn and Steve Talbot, plus two conversions from scrum-half Ryan Glynn.

The home team hit back after the break with hooker Danny Lowe getting a brace.

Mark Ashton also scored and Sean Garrett landed with two conversions, but Bird's second try of the day and Talbot's extra two points ensured the Dewsbury side left with the points.

The result sees Waterhead drop to second-bottom of the table with two wins from their seven matches.