Supplementary cup 1st Round
Underbank 70 v Slaithwaite Saracens B 54
The Saracens Young 7th division side took on Underbanks experienced 4th division team, which contained a few national Conference players, in an exciting game that Underbank might have thought was going to be an easier game than it turned out to be. The game started with a handicap of Underbank 14 – Slaithwaite 44. The first half bought two tries for Slaithwaite scored by Graham Fryer and Jason Lamburn both showing they were too much for the Underbank defence. The team’s captain Paul Beal Converted one of these tries these scores giving the young Slaithwaite team a boost of confidence as always the captains vitality spurred the lads on. The Stand off Gavin Dyson worked excellently throughout the game in both defence and attack moving the ball round the pitch well. Richard Fryer, James Thorpe and Ian Doyle all worked hard consistently throughout the game leading to great performances.
The beginning of the second half was much the same. As the young Saracens continued to rattle Underbanks cages, this caused them to make mistakes. Early on in the 2nd half Lamburn went over the line again, sadly the try was disallowed. This put the Saracens heads down slightly but outstanding performances from Chris Broadhead, Richard Gutteridge, Jake Smith and Ben Dawson enabled them to keep 4 points in front up to 25 minutes in to the 2nd half. Mick Brook also took time out of his marathon training to give the lads a hand and some moral. Unfortunately Underbanks downhill attack in the last 15 mins gave them 3 tries to end the match with an Underbank win. But Underbank can’t say the match was a walk over!
Man of the Match Awards – 1. Gavin Dyson
2. Graham Fryer
3. Anthony Dawson