Rangers have dose of the navy Blues

Royal Navy 32, Saddleworth Rangers 14

RUGBY: SADDLEWORTH Rangers were on the back foot after only five minutes of their Ladbrokes Challenge Cup first-round clash against the Royal Navy in Portsmouth.

Hoping to succeed where local rivals Waterhead had twice failed previously against the armed

services team, the visitors made a poor start. A Ben Whitehead kick was charged down, the ball was shifted left and Tu Rocko went in at the corner. Ryan Mathews missed the conversion attempt.

Rangers fell further behind after 14 minutes.

A scrum on the Navy’s 10-metre line broke up, and Tom Wilkinson picked up possession and sprinted virtually the full length of the pitch before touching down under the posts. This time Mathews added the goal.

There was relief for Rangers when Danny Bowker put his side on the board after he was released by Jack Bradbury. Josh Bradbury kicked the goal and the deficit was six points.

But the Navy soon reasserted authority as Rocko went in for his second try of the game. Mathews failed with the conversion.

Play swung to the opposite end, and Josh Bradbury sneaked over from dummy half. With Whitehead kicking the goal, there was everything to play for at the break with only four points between the two sides.

But a Rangers error — Jack Holden fumbled a kick through — allowed the Navy to go in again, with Lewis Cooper applying the final touch. Mathews added the goal and the lead was up to 10 points.

Ethan Langhorn repeated Holden’s mistake with 18 minutes left, the ball rebounding off a post into the grateful hands of Kevin Botwood, who made no mistake. Mathews added the simple conversion.

Rangers did not give up, but the Navy had the last laugh. Another burst from Wilkinson from the base of the scrum released Rocko, who completed his hat-trick with nine minutes remaining. Mathews goaled.