Both teams showed changes from the previous week although on paper Bramley looked to have a formidable side out even allowing for the enforced absences of Jon Nicholls, Shaun Gilmour and new signings Steve Mead from Milford and Kevin Till from Hunslet Hawks.

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On a damp, overcast afternoon Bramley kicked off and on the second tackle Tom Tsang Tackled a Lions player into touch. From the resulting scrum 40 metres from the Lions line Tony Williams displayed electrifying speed to go over in the corner for a try. Shaun Flynn's conversion was just wide of the mark.

For the next 15 minutes both teams were guilty of squandering possession, Bramley probably by trying to overplay and East Lancs because they were unable to complete their sets through a combination of poor handling and aggressive defence by Bramley.

However on the quarter hour Richard Leese crashed over from close crange and Flynn added the extras, 10-0. From the kick off Bramley lost the ball on the second tackle and then had to defend 6 tackles inside their own 10 metre area, on the last tackle a short kick meant for the in-goal was swooped up by Tony Williams who out paced the chasing pack over 90m to score in the corner again, 14-0.

Good work from Thomas Tsang and Mark Butterill set the position for Paul Drake to score next. From 10 metres he was only half stopped in the tackle and he scrambled over the whitewash under the posts on 25 minutes. Shaun Flynn converted, 20-0.

Bramley were looking capable of scoring on every play however some dropped ball at vital times probably cost them 3-4 tries in the first half alone.

Meanwhile East Lancashire were reliant on their kicking game to gain any territorial advantage as they were being out muscled in the tackle and making few metres with ball in hand. On 29 minutes Bramley's leading try scorer so far this season, John Elliker celebrated his return to the team with an easy score close to the posts after good strong running from powerful centre Daniel Caston. Shaun Flynn added the extras.

On 35 minutes a dropped ball inside their 20 metres allowed Daniel Caston to cross for his first try of the season. His strong run saw defenders pushed out the way as he crossed taking 3 defenders with him, Flynn again converted, 32-0.

On the stroke of half-time Bramley were fortunate to get a favourable call from the referee when an attempted chip kick from East Lancs was caught by Steven Gill and passed to Webb to score, there was a hint of a knock-on that was missed by both linesman and referee. Half-time 36-0 to Bramley.

East Lancashire came out with renewed enthusiasm in the second half and were quickly into the tackle, however any signs of a recovery were quickly dispelled on 42 minutes when from a kick-return Shaun Flynn and then Thomas Tsang made good metres to put Matt Mullholland in position to easily slip a pass to the supporting Caston to score his second try.

On 49 minutes a stabbed kick to the posts by Tony Williams was fumbled allowing him to follow-up and touch down for the easiest try of the afternoon under the posts. Flynn's conversion made it 46-0.

From the resulting re-start Bramley went the length of the field and scored again. This time a huge Williams bomb was not contested by East Lancashire, John Richardson took an excellent catch and whilst being tackled off-loaded to the supporting Elliker to score in the corner, 50-0.

East Lancashire tried to build a response but they had no answer to the line speed and ferocity of Bramley's defence. Too many mistakes were made and it was no surprise when 10 minutes later Williams collected his own bomb again and scored unchallenged in the corner.

Six minutes later Gareth Thirsk who had worked tirelessly all afternoon got on the score-sheet when he crossed in the corner also.

All these try's were presenting difficult conversions for Shaun Flynn who had been mightily close with several touch-line attempts, Tony Williams conversion attempt struck the upright and came out.

Danny Johnson skipped through some tired defence on 70 minutes to make it 62-0; Paul Drake converted to make it 64-0.

The final piece of meaningful action came on 74 minutes when Drake intelligently kicked from deep and Caston won the foot-race to claim his hat-trick try. Drake converted, 70-0 final score.

Bramley are next in action on Saturday 24th May, against Warrington Wizards, at Wilderspool, kick off 3:30.

Game Breaker: Tony Williams's second try on 17 minutes when he went the length of the field showed that Bramley could score tries from anywhere on the field and at that point it was a case of how many Bramley were going to score as there was no way back for East Lancashire from that point on.

Game Star: Tony Williams oozes class, quick off the mark, dangerous with ball in hand and his variety of kicks caused East Lancs problems all afternoon. Plus he scored 4 tries.



Teams:

Bramley Buffaloes: 1.Shaun Flynn, 2.Thomas Tsang, 3.Daniel Caston, 4.Andy McGann, 5.John Richardson, 6.Paul Drake, 7.Tony Williams, 8.Richard Leese, 9.Graham Harrison, 10.Mark Butterill, 11.Danny Johnson, 12.Gareth Thirsk, 13.John Elliker, SUBS (all used); 14.Thomas Webb, 15.Scott Pendlebury, 16.Matt Mullholland, 17.Steven Gill

Tries: Williams (1, 17, 49, 60), Leese (15), Drake (25), Elliker (29, 50), Caston (35, 42, 74) Webb (39), Thirsk (66), Johnson (70)
Goals: Flynn (5), Drake (2)

East Lancashire Lions: 1.Rob Kershaw, 2.Rory Hicks, 3.Simon Middlehurst, 4.Dave Bruen, 5.Mark Pemberton, 6.Sean Daley, 7.Tony Doyle, 8.Ryan Terry, 9.Darren Greenwood, 10.Ben Simpson, 11.Zane Rihia, 12.Craig Spencer, 13.Wayne Verity, SUBS (all used);14.Chris Greenwood, 15.Gary Nelson, 16.Gordon Ferguson, 17.Dave Needham

Man of the Match:

Bramley Buffaloes - Tony Williams
East Lancashire Lions - Tony Doyle