The new National Conference League season got underway at the weekend!
Waterhead Warriors made a winning start to life in the National Conference League Premier Division with a resounding win over local rivals Rochdale Mayfield.
The pair have been regular competitors in the Oldham Standard Cup but this was the first time they had met in the top flight.
The visitors made a magnificent start at Waterhead Park with new recruit Jack Wright twice involved in the build up before centre Ieuan Higgs cut inside to touch down and Jordan Parr kicked the conversion.
Defences were on top for a while, particularly when Rochdale Mayfield came up with wave, after wave of attack and a stunning tackle from Mitch Birch stopped it dead. This seemed to lift the hosts who then went on to build their first try, wrestling territorial advantage away from Mayfield.
Waterhead knocked on the door for several minutes before a clever play from a scrum saw Gareth Owen draw two defenders before popping the pass out to Matt Holland to cross on the right and Kegan Brennan levelled the game with his first goal after 32 minutes.
The hosts scored again a couple of minutes later after a strong run from NCL debutant Tim Bridge and a sparkling dummy half surge by Jacob O'Grady. On the next play Harry Barker hit his line perfectly and crashed over by the posts for Brennan to convert and make it 12-6.
The hosts went on to successfully restrict Rochdale Mayfield, that was until an outstanding last tackle raid, sparked by Devlin Long and featuring five further passes before Parr brought the ball back inside and launched a pin point kick across field that Harry Sheridan ran onto for a spectacular try in the 37th minute.
Parr goaled, but Waterhead had one final opportunity when they forced an error and another clinical scrum play ended with Harrison Dodd touching down in the left corner and Brennan added the touchline goal to hand the hosts an 18-12 half-time lead.
Rochdale Mayfield made a positive start to the new half with Long held up over the line and more solid defence holding Waterhead inside their own thirty metre line, however when Brennan broke on the last tackle he went all the way inside the visitors twenty before linking out wide with Adam Robinson for the wing man to score another fantastic try.
Brennan goaled to make it 24-12 and was similarly on target to convert his own try after Owen had created space. Trailing 30-12, Mayfield rallied and forced their way over the line from the impressive Ben Metcalfe just before the hour with Parr goaling to close the deficit to 30-18.
It was from this point that Owen and Brennan grabbed hold of the game and the halfback pairing made sure that when Mayfield took possession, they were just metres away from their own line. Try as they might, the visitors couldn't create a break and a superb raid from halfway involving Niall Dean and Brennan was finished in the corner by a flying Harrison Dodd who claimed his second try.
Although Brennan couldn't convert from out wide, he did add a penalty in the dying moments to wrap up a 16-point contribution and a 36-18 success.
Elsewhere in the Premier Division, close results were the order of the day with Siddal and Hunslet ARLFC who contested the Grand Final last year, registering day one, two point wins over Lock Lane and Dewsbury Moor Maroons respectively. West Hull fought hard to claim success at Wath Brow while West Bowling sunk Leigh Miners Rangers and York Acorn proved victorious against Thatto Heath Crusaders.
Division Two also got underway this weekend with promoted sides Drighlington, East Leeds and Hensingham picking up victories over Ellenborough Rangers, Pilkington Recs and Hull Dockers respectively. Hensingham's win was all the more noteworthy with it being achieved in Hull. Elsewhere Clock Face Miners beat barrow Island and Normanton Knights enjoyed a solid success over Skirlaugh.
Results (Saturday 8 March):
Premier Division
Dewsbury Moor Maroons 8-10 Hunslet ARLFC
Siddal 8-6 Lock Lane
Waterhead Warriors 36-18 Rochdale Mayfield
Wath Brow Hornets 14-20 West Hull
West Bowling 36-22 Leigh Miners Rangers
York Acorn 22-0 Thatto Heath Crusaders
Division Two
Drighlington 26-12 Ellenborough
East Leeds 46-16 Pilkington Recs
Hull Dockers 20-48 Hensingham
Normanton Knights 38-16 Skirlaugh
Clock Face Miners 32-16 Barrow Island
Next week (15 March) Division One gets underway and there is also a stand alone fixture from the Division Three calendar as Myton Warriors host Beverley.
Fixtures taking place next weekend (Saturday 15 March):
Premier Division
Hunslet ARLFC v West Bowling
Leigh Miners Rangers v Waterhead Warriors
Lock Lane v Dewsbury Moor Maroons
Rochdale Mayfield v Wath Brow Hornets
West Hull v York Acorn
Division One
Crosfields v Ince Rose Bridge
Egremont Rangers v Wigan St Judes
Heworth v Oulton Raiders
Oldham St Annes v Shaw Cross Sharks
Stanningley v Kells
Wigan St Patricks v Woolston Rovers
Division Two
Barrow Island v Drighlington
Ellenborough v Clock Face Miners
Hensingham v Dewsbury Celtic
Pilkington Recs v Normanton Knights
Skirlaugh v East Leeds
Thornhill Trojans v Hull Dockers
Division Three
Myton Warriors v Beverley
