* Click here to sign up to free Branley Buffaloes email alerts direct to your desktop.

After successfully defeating Dewsbury Celtic at Crow Nest Park on Saturday 24-42 the Bramley team and supporters spent an anxious 30 minutes in the Celtic clubhouse awaiting the all important result from South Wales of the Crusader Colts v Warrington Wizards.

Their were cheers all round as Chairman Martyn Cheney got the call that that the Crusaders had edged a narrow 24-22 win over title rivals Warrington.

Going into the final weekend of league matches, Bramley needed a win against Dewsbury and then had to rely upon Crusader Colts either beating or drawing against Warrington, as it transpired Bramley won comfortably against a very physical Dewsbury side and Crusader Colts did their bit.

Bramley had Scott Pendlebury and Mark Butterill missing from the team that performed so well the previous week against Crusader Colts, whilst Shaun Flynn passed a late fitness test and had to settle for a place on the bench. Steven Gill and Kevin O'Hare came into the team. Dewsbury also suffered from missing players as both Paul Gledhill and Marvin Golden were unavailable.

Bramley kicked off playing up the slope. Dewsbury had all the early possession and field position as they tore into Bramley; back-to-back penalties saw Paul Heaton crash over by the hosts on 5 minutes to open the scoring up. Danny Thomas converted. Once the Buffaloes had some ball they started to make good progress going forward, this was typified when the ever versatile Shaun Gilmour went 20m on a good arcing run over half way.

Holding down by the Celtic defence allowed Tony Williams to push Bramley further forward and this was capitalised upon when after good work by Danny Johnson, Williams hoisted a high hanging cross field kick which was expertly collected by the flying John Richardson who out jumped opposite number Tom Tatersfield to touch down. Paul Drake added the first of a perfect 7 out of 7 conversions to tie the scores up at 6 all.

From this point on and for most of the game Dewsbury adopted a very physical approach to the game, on several occasions their tackling well went beyond acceptable standards for a rugby league match and as a result the game became very scrappy.

Bramley became frustrated by the negative tactics of continually lying on, flopping and general ill discipline of the Celtic team, however they too were guilty of poor discipline and some quite bizarre referring decisions. One of which saw Daniel Caston penalised after being struck whilst on the ground! Caston came in for some unwanted attention for most of the game, on 10 minutes Luke Kemp was penalised for a very obvious swing arm attack to Caston's head. Although the game was scrappy at this time Dewsbury had better field position, however on two occasions in very quick succession Richard Leese made excellent drives to gain important metres whilst Tony Williams kicking game was causing problems for Celtic whenever Bramley came within 20m of their line.

On 22 minutes Daniel Caston was flattened by a very late high shot from Matt Clarke who was immediately dismissed. Caston left the field with blood pouring from his mouth but keen to return to the fray. This seemed to inspire Bramley who forced the first of three goal line drop outs; from this position Danny O'Connor went desperately close following a typically robust direct run to the line. The dam burst though seconds later when try machine Tony Williams went over effortlessly from close range, Paul Drake converted and Bramley had the lead. Supporters collectively breathed easier as Bramley were now in front, however they were unable to build on that lead further before half-time. Matt Mullholland crossed the line on the half hour mark but was alleged to have not grounded the ball, this was followed by further exciting inter-play between Matt, John Richardson and Jon Nicholls and then Shaun Gilmour was only inches away in the opposite corner. Five minutes before half-time a Paul Drake kick in open play was very well chased down by skipper Jon Nicholls who only just failed to score but was denied by good covering from youngster Tatersfield.

Dewsbury lost pacy full back Bolu Fagbourn at half-time but any hint that they were about to roll over was quickly dispelled when following a knock-on from the kick off influential scrum half Danny Thomas stepped his way through some indifferent tackling and scored from close range under the posts. He converted his own try to level the scores. Going up the slope Dewsbury made a good fist of the early exchanges, the try obviously lifted them as did the numerous penalties they were awarded which saw them continually starting attacks from 40m from the Bramley line. Buffaloes supporters lifted the players in an effort to turn the tide of attacks.

Tony Williams made an outstanding 1-on-1 tackle under his own posts and Thomas Webb threw self preservation to the wind as he also dived on a loose ball amongst flying feet and bodies close to his own line. However as many teams have found their cost this season it is one thing having possession against Bramley and applying pressure, the key is to turn it into points when you have the chance and in this case Dewsbury were unable to do that.

On 52 minutes Bramley wrestled back possession and quick hands down the Bramley right saw Daniel Caston show great strength to stretch out to score out wide. Drake added another terrific conversion. For the next 20 minutes an amber and black tide rolled remorselessly down the slope towards the Celtic line who had no answer to the pace, power and skill of the Bramley team. Daniel Caston was instrumental in taking the team forward; in quick succession he had powerful weaving runs which were taking 3 to 4 players to stop him. On the back of one such run Tony Williams from a standing start and with no where seemingly to go somehow carved Dewsbury open and went past 3 defenders to score his second try on 61 minutes.

Four minutes later Jon Nicholls showed good pace and even better awareness as he drove down the right hand side yet again before calmly slipping a perfect pass inside to the supporting Tony Williams who duly completed his hat trick. With the game in the bag at 12-30 Bramley appeared to relax and threw the ball about as Dewsbury started to chase shadows. John Richardson ducked and weaved out of several tackles on a 40m run before being well tackled. From a quick play the ball close to the Celtic line Bramley lost possession, however from the resultant scrum Andy McGann continued his fine run of form by stripping the ball in a one-on-one tackle and scoring by the posts.

On 70 minutes further quick hands saw Shaun Gilmour also score a deserved try when he outpaced the defence to score in the corner, Paul Drake saved his best conversion to last by landing a blinding touchline conversion, 12-42. Credit to Dewsbury who never gave up and ended the game on the offensive, two late tries to Danny Thomas and Luke Kemp gave the score an air of respectability in what has been by and large a disappointing season for Dewsbury. The game finished 24-42 to Bramley and the wait was on for the result from South Wales.

Dewsbury is historically a tough place to come and get a result, however as so often this season Bramley rose to the challenge and ultimately had too much quality from 1-17 which ensured a victory. The Buffaloes again had the meanest defence in the league, conceding on average only 14.88 points per game, that type of defence will be required as we now enter the play-offs.

There are still 2 games to be played:
East Lancashire Lions v Dewsbury Celtic
Huddersfield Underbank v Featherstone Lions

However the outcome of both these 2 games will not affect the final placings.

Next game: Grand-Final qualifier v Crusader Colts, weekend of 13/14 September 2008 at the Arthur Miller Stadium, Stanningley. Game date and time to be confirmed.

Game star: Hard to look beyond Tony Williams who scored a hat-trick of try's and had a great kicking game that created opportunities for others.

Game breaker: Superb 1-on-1 tackle by Tony Williams 5m from the Bramley try line on the 6th tackle under the posts was Dewsbury pressed to re-gain the lead on 51 minutes. From there Daniel Caston scored and Bramley added a further 4 tries without reply in a 19 minute blitz.


DEWSBURY CELTIC: 1 Bolu Fagbourn, 2 Tom Tatersfield, 3 Matt Clark, 4 Paul Heaton, 5 Aiden Anderson, 6 Luke Kemp, 7 Danny Thomas, 8 Mark Chandler, 9 Dom Bryne, 10 Michael Kite, 11 Andy Gibson, 12 Dave Parker, 13 Danny Lee. Subs (all used) 14 Pat Foulstone, 15 Alex Walmsley, 16 Star Zaman
Tries: Heaton (5), Thomas (42 & 72), Kemp (77) Goals: Thomas 4/4



BRAMLEY BUFFALOES: 1 Andy McGann, 2 Shaun Gilmour, 3 Daniel Caston, 4 Matt Mullholland, 5 John Richardson, 6 Paul Drake, 7 Tony Williams, 8 Richard Leese, 9 Thomas Webb, 10 Danny Johnson, 11 Danny O'Connor, 12 Graham Harrison, 13 Jon Nicholls. Subs (all used) 14 Kevin O'Hare, 15 Shaun Flynn, 16 Steven Gill, 17 Chris Gardner
Tries: Richardson (8), Williams (23, 61 & 65), Caston (52), McGann (68), Gilmour (70)
Goals: Drake 7/7


Dismissed: Matt Clarke (Dewsbury Celtic) - Head high tackle (22)

Men of the Match (as selected by the referee):

Dewsbury Celtic - Mark Chandler
Bramley Buffaloes - Jon Nicholls