A Tony Williams try on 78 minutes finally edged the Buffaloes in front and moved them back to second in the table behind Crusader Colts but level on 27 points each.

Due to a long standing prior booking at the Featherstone ground this game was rescheduled from the previous Saturday's round 10 fixtures. Both teams showed changes from their previous outings, Featherstone fresh from a 28-62 beating of East Lancashire Lions and the Buffaloes after their 40-16 defeat of Dewsbury Celtic. Featherstone welcomed back Dale Ferris at full back, Danny Giles at scrum half, influential front rower Mark Tepper and Adam Thaler at loose forward. For the Buffaloes, Shaun Flynn, Paul Drake and Neil Hesketh were all unfit to play, whilst Daniel Caston was unavailable.

This game was the reverse of the opening day fixture which ended in a tense 22-22 draw, since them Bramley have maintained a place near the top of the table producing some very good performances along the way, most notably their excellent performance at Crusader Colts, although by and large not yet hitting the heights of consistency. Featherstone Lions on the other hand have been plagued by player unavailability, injuries and inconsistent performances which had left them prior to this game just outside the top six, but with games in hand and more than capable of stringing some wins together in the second half of the season.

A good crowd gathered on a dry and breezy evening with a large and vociferous travelling support from Bramley. Tony Williams kicked off for Bramley who were playing towards the clubhouse in the first half. His strong kick bounced over the despairing Lions players and found a good touch 30m out. The first 5 minutes of the game were characterised by a series of Bramley penalties as a result of some over enthusiastic play by the Lions. A good kick-chase by the Lions saw them exert some early pressure on the Bramley line after Paul Coates had off-loaded the ball into a Lions players arms before being tackled into touch into, solid defence by Bramley kept the game score-less. On 6 minutes Simon Child the Lions front rower was given a straight red card by the referee following a late high tackle on Kevin Till. From the resultant penalty Bramley tested the Lions defence and on the sixth tackle a perfectly flighted Tony Williams kick saw Danny Johnson out-jump his opposite number to touch-down in the corner. Paul Coates failed with the conversion in difficult kicking conditions. Bramley dominated the next 1o-15 minutes of play as both Tony Williams and Kevin Till directed the team around the pitch and built pressure on the Featherstone defence. On 14 minutes after good footwork from Kevin Till, Tony Williams followed his own short kick to the posts and touched down for an easy try and the Lions had made a real meal out of clearing the kick. Paul; Coates converted and it was 10-0 to Bramley. Featherstone's defence was working hard to keep the Buffaloes out wnd when they did get ball in hand they were making good progress especially through some aggressive running from their forwards. Bramley spurned a couple of opportunities to post more points as a result of poor decision making near the Lions line, this would prove costly. On 20 minutes Featherstone seemed to up their game as they got more possession and started to force errors from the Bramley team. The Lions created space through some good off-loading and only a couple of big tackles by John Elliker prevented Feathersone posting points. However on 27 minutes following a Bramley drop-out and some excellent goal line defence which appeared to have halted the Lions, on the sixth tackle and seemingly going nowhere, the Lions threw a speculative, without looking between the legs pass –out, which was comfortably taken by Richard Frankland stood all alone on the wing who scored in the corner, no conversion. Although down to 12 men you would never have known as the Lions buoyed by their score roared back.

Graham Harrison was sin-binned on 31 minutes for jumping into the kicker. From the penalty where the kick was fielded further pressure saw Dean Gamble crash over from close range and Danny Giles conversion brought the teams level. Bramley still had no ball and were now conceding penalties, allowing the Lions consistently good field position. It was no surprise then when on 37 minutes some excellent passing through the hands along the line put Adam Hinchliffe over in the far corner for a deserved score. There was no conversion and no further action of note in the first half.

Hal-time probably came at the right time for Bramley as it allowed Coach Paul Cook the opportunity to re-focus his team on the task in hand.

The second half started with Bramley looking enthusiastic going forward, but again unforced errors and very resolute defence by Featherstone led to both teams slugging it down the middle. Featherstone's kicking game was much in evidence, as high bombs and long kicks penned Bramley back and forced them to mount attacks from deep within their own half. This simple plan was working well for the Lions who put recent indifferent form before them and were playing like a top of the table team themselves. Another high cross-field kick saw Adam Hinchliffe out jump John Richardson on 51 minutes to stretch the lead to 18-10 and register his second try of the game. In their urgency to get back in the game a number of Bramley players were penalised for being off-side from the kick-off, Danny Giles landed an excellent penalty from half way to make it 20-10. Bramley went back to basics and started to drive the ball forward, this paid dividends on 55 minutes when Tony Williams with tacklers all over him managed to get a pass out to the ever willing Andy McGann who was right on his shoulder to take the pass. Andy crossed under the posts and Paul Coates converted to draw Bramley back to 20-16. To their credit there was no sign of fatigue in the Featherstone ranks as they continued to take the game to Bramley. From the kick off Featherstone regained possession and came mightily close to scoring again after being held up on the line. Andy McGann scored a great individual try on 65 minutes when he raced 70m to score in the corner, receiving the ball from John Elliker he outpaced the defence and then turned fullback Dale Ferris inside out before scoring his fifth try of the season. 20 all with 15 minutes to go and all results were still possible. Bramley supporters expecting a Dewsbury Celtic like finish were disappointed as on 71 minutes Danny Giles landed an angled penalty following a high tackle, on reflection the Lions may have rued the opportunity to take the 2 points rather than go for a converted try. As the clock ticked down though Featherstone defended with great determination and although they never looked likely to score a long range try their forwards still continued to make great metres to set up good field position. Dean Gamble and Mark Tepper were instrumental in all the good things they did. However cometh the hour cometh the man and that man was 'T', Tony Williams who with only 2 minutes left somehow found space, and from 15m his pace took him through a gap and over in the corner to the delight of all Buffaloes players, staff and supporters. This was his twelfth try in just 5 appearances, an inspired acquisition. Again no conversion in windy conditions but now it was the Lions who had to find a response. There was still time for Featherstone to have a set of 6 which turned into another set following a charge-down and re-gather as they surged forward. Thankfully a knock-on resulted as they tried to keep the ball alive. Bramley then took the ball downfield and Tony Williams kicked to touch as the whisle went to end a see-saw game.

Bramley will hopefully play with more fluency in the coming weeks but there is no doubt that they go the whole 80 minutes and are capable of scoring at any time – always a useful trait to have in situations such as these. Featherstone may well play worse and win, however if they can maintain the level of control. And commitment they displayed in this game then they are a definite threat to the teams around them.

Next game: Bramley are at home to in-form Gateshead Storm on Saturday 28 June 2008, kick off 2.30 pm at the Arthur Miller Stadium, Stanningley.

Game star: Tony Williams; for periods of the game he was quiet, but when he explodes with ball in hand he has the ability and presence to create opportunities for others and himself as was demonstrated with 2 tries for himself and creating 2 others.

Game breaker: Andy McGann's great solo try drew Bramley level and set them up for a late tilt at Featherstone; however Tony Williams late late try sealed the game.

FEATHERSTONE LIONS: 1 Dale Ferris, 2 Adam Hinchliffe, 3 Stu Davies, 4 Byron Cooper, 5 Richard Frankland, 6 Jamie Nicholson, 7 Danny Giles, 8 Simon Child, 9 Dean Gamble, 10 Mark Tepper, 11 Danny Huby, 12 Brian Sutton, 13 Adam Thaler. Subs (all used) 14 Mick Wykes, 15 Ben Smith, 16 Craig Barker, 17 Kris Smith
Tries: Frankland (27), Gamble (31), Hinchliffe (37 & 51)
Goals: Giles 3/6

BRAMLEY BUFFALOES: 1 Paul Coates, 2 Danny Johnson, 3 Matt Mullholland, 4 Andy McGann, 5 John Richardson, 6 Kevin Till, 7 Tony Williams, 8 Richard Leese, 9 Graham Harrison, 10 Mark Butterill, 11 John Elliker, 12 Gareth Thirsk, 13 Jon Nicholls. Subs (all used) 14 Scott Pendlebury, 15 Daniel Lavery, 16 Thomas Webb, 17 Steven Gill
Tries: Johnson (7), Williams (14 & 78), McGann (55 & 65)
Goals: Coates 2/5

Sent Off: Simon Child – late high tackle

Sin binned: Graham Harrison late tackle
Half-time: 14-10
Final score: 22-24
Referee: Mick Croft

Men of the Match:

Featherstone Lions - Dean Gamble

Bramley Buffaloes - Tony Williams