Under 16's
After an excellent season last year this year the team will be coached by John Dunne assisted by Lee Brook and Danny Fearon and will be playing up a year at U16 level which will hopefully develop the lads and give them a tougher standard of rugby.. Let's hope for another successful year.
7th February 2010
FEATHERSTONE LIONS 42 KING CROSS PARK 10
National Cup 2nd round.
King Cross Park emerged from this tie with a great deal of credit and much positive praise from the referee and the host club's president for the way in which they competed against one of the county's top sides at this age group. Despite the scoreline, Park gave a very good account of themselves after conceding a converted try within the first set of six tackles from the kick off. Once the nerves had settled the visitors played with their normal flowing style with the ball and were unfortunate to have tries by Josh Hunt and Tom Johnstone dis-allowed before the Lions managed another score. The Lions looked very strong in the forwards and quick in the backs, but King Cross gained strength from their earlier raids and William Milner was tackled short of the line and reached out an out-stretched arm with the ball in the tackle and was harshly adjudged to have been short of the line, but yet again, it didn't put the lads off and they kept plugging away and playing to the patterns that have served them so well previously this season. One particular piece of brilliance came from Alex Mellor who put a well weighted grubber kick into the in-goal area and it sat up beautifully for Ryan Crabtree to pounce on and touchdown in the left corner. The score at the half time break was 22-4 to the home side and some changes to the personnel were made at half time.
The home side continued to have slightly the upper hand but Park's forwards stuck to their task in the middle and forced the home side to seek scoring opportunities from kicks rather than ball in hand, the power & strength of Zak Dewhurst, Alex Mellor, Milner and Emmerson Whittle was inspirational and subs Matty Ward and Brad Giggal both made big impacts early in the second half with their fresh legs and enthusiasm with the ball. The Lions were made to work very hard for their field position and any chances at one end, while having to defend stoutly themselves to protect their own line. Jake Smith jumped out of dummy half and drew the line before giving a nice pass to William Milner who crashed over from close range under the posts for Mellor to convert.
Although the final scoreline doesn't tell the whole story, the team as a group will have learned a great deal from the experience of playing against such a good side from an age group older and it will set them up for the remainder of the season which they still have plenty to play for.
Sunday 24th January
King Cross Park 48 Rochdale Mayfield 4
National Cup
After five weeks if inactivity due to the christmas holiday period and the seasonal weather meaning postponed games into the new year, Park travelled to Mayfield for the first time hungry for some rugby against a side they knew very little about. Despite having very little opportunity to get some quality training sessions in while preparing for this match the visitors opened very strongly, scoring three tries in the opening nine minutes. The inspirational William Milner went over in the second minute from 40metres to score the first of his sizzling hat-trick of tries, all of which were scored in the opening 19 minutes of the game.
If the home side were wondering what was in store for them, they soon found out that King Cross Park had a lot of skill to offer when Alex Mellor totally confused their defence on 5 minutes when he decieved everyone around him putting in a brilliant grubber kick from 5 metres out, to re-gather himself and dive over, when they expected him to run the ball.
On 9 minutes, Josh Hunt tore through to burst clear and he was tackled two metres from the tryline, but his quick play the ball caught the home side napping and the alert Jake Smith went over from dummy half on the blind side to expose the lack of cover to score a good opportunist's try.
After a stoppage in play on 15 minutes, William Milner ran the resulting tap penalty and went straight over from 40 metres and just four minutes later he celebrated his hat trick with an intricate passing passage with Adam Brook who delivered the scoring pass for Milner to go over from close range.
As the home side struggled to cope with the amount of possession they were gifting Park with their own discipline letting them down, they found themselves chasing shadows. Jake Smith scythed through at wide left of the field and headed back inside before handing onto the charging Zak Dewhurst who proved un-stoppable in going over for what was the first of his hat-trick of tries. On 29 minutes, Josh Hunt showed his class when he took on the defensive line and then stepped back to straighten his line of running, to go through un-opposed to score from 30metres to make the half time score 36-0.
The home side offered a bit of resistance for the first 12 minutes of the second half until Dewhurst scattered the defence on his way to scoring a powerful try. A lapse in concetration led to Park losing possession in their own half and the Mayfield centre went over under the posts for their only score of the match.
As the game drew to a close, Dewhurst once again powered over from a tap penaltyto close the scoring and Park were successfully through to the second round of the competition. William Milner added two conversions and Adam Brook added four to make the result 48-4.
13th December 2009
HOYLAND VIKINGS 4 KING CROSS PARK 64
West Riding cup quarter finals.
King Cross Park progressed safely through to the semi finals of the competition in a game which was cut short by about 10 minutes by the referee due to a serious looking leg injury to one of the Hoyland players which required the treatment of the emergency services before being taken to hospital by ambulance.
It was the first time these two teams had ever met and it wasn't long before the result became a formality with Park scoring tries in the 5th, 6th and 8th minutes of the game to command an early lead which they were never going to surrender, scoring a total of twelve tries and converting eight of them.
Scores went to Jake Smith, Adam Brook, Emmerson Whittle, Alex Mellor, William Milner and Max Zazulak all with one touchdown each
and Ross "Ishmail" Haswell, Josh Hunt and Zak Dewhurst each scored two tries apiece. Goals were added by Alex Mellor ( seven ) and Taylor Fearon also converted one.
29th November 2009
WEST HULL LIONS 24 KING CROSS PARK 12
Yorkshire cupquarter finals.
King Cross saved their poorest performance for a long while for their visit to Hull in this big cup tie. They began the match by fielding the kick off on their own try line and lost possession on just the second tackle to put themselves under immediate pressure from the home side. Bravely, the boys defended the onslaught that came their way from the powerful home forwards and began to settle things down a little when in possession. Decent field position was difficult to come by on the sticky surface, but on 7 minutes, Park were adjudged to have lost the ball at the play the ball on half way and from the resulting scrum the losse forward went over unchallenged for a converted try. On 11 minutes, William Milner stole the ball in the tackle and it was shipped rapidly to the left where centre Emmerson Whittle dived over to open Park's scoring. On 18 minutes a Jake Smith pass out of the tackle found Zak Dewhurst who found himself with clear field in front of him and he timed a pass perfectly for Ross Haswell to squeeze in at the corner to nose the visitors into an 8-6 lead.
The lead was surrendered a minute before half time when the ball was lost in their own '25 and the home centre capitalised by scoring in the corner, so the score at half time was West Hull 10 King Cross Park 8 and a cracking second half was in prospect.
With just 4 minutes played, Adam Brook cleverly ran the ball on the last tackle and his neat pass put Whittle over for his second try and restored Park's lead with a narrow 12-10 score. A lead which was almost increased when Josh Hunt mesmerised the home side with a touchline burst only to find his way blocked he brilliantly kicked over the defence and won the race to touchdown but the referee addjugded the ball had gone dead and the chance was lost. The visitors struggled with the substitutions that the home side made and they conceded three further tries, one of which was converted to seal the result.
22nd November 2009
KING CROSS PARK 44 KEIGHLEY COUGAR CUBS 18
Park maintained their winning streak with this comprehensive win against the Cougar cubs, playing some brilliant rugby league that was well constructed and which belied the strong gusting winds and rain.
The try scoring was evenly spread between the backs and the forwards with the outstanding Tom Johnstone claiming a hat-trick playing at centre. Park made some postional changes as part of their preparations for next week's Yorkshire cup tie at West Hull and that didn't detract anything from the performance, with some players revelling in their changes of position and the very strong looking bench of inter-change players all working hard for the team cause.
Park got out of the blocks early in the game with Adam Brook running the ball on the last tackle of the first set and deceiving the defence with a deft chip over for Josh Hunt to gather and romp his way over wide on the right. Just three minutes later Johnstone scored the first of his three wide on the other flank.Keighley replied with a converted try on 10 minutes to bring the score back to 8-6. On 14 minutes Jake Smith timed a beautiful pass out of the tackle for the block-busting Josh Saltonstall to hit at pace and hand onto Zak Dewhurst who finished the move off in style touching down close enough for Alex Mellor to convert the first of his five conversion kicks.
As substitutions were starting to have their effect on the game, Taylor Fearon timed his first run out of dummy half brilliantly drawing the defence before handing onto Jake Smith who dummied his way through a gap and drew the full back perfectly before handing onto Johnstone for him to score the try of the match.
Ross Haswell was shortly after bundled into touch in the act of scoring and the ref dis-allowed the try, but every time they sent the ball wide they looked capable of scoring and playing some delightful rugby in the process, making very few handling errors.
Alex Mellor was next to score on 22 minutes picking off a neat short pass from Brook to go over, but a lapse in concentration allowed the visitors to score another converted try right on half time to give the scoreline at the break 24-12.
Just as they started the first half, they scored with their first possession of the second half with Johnstone again the beneficiary of Jake Smith's pass out of the tackle to complete a great hat trick, and just two minutes later from a planned move at a tap penalty Adam Brook got held up on the try line but managed to find Callum Dunne at hand and he dived underneathe the melee of tacklers to score.
Park were now totally dominating all aspects of play and it was no surprise when the influential Alex Mellor sent a cut out pass which Emmerson Whittle got on the end of to touchdown wide on the left.
It was a break on the same left side where the next score came from, winger Ross Haswell cutting loose on half way and then intelligently passing back inside as the cover closed him down and the ball was zipped across field to the right where Josh Saltonstall stormed over and cut back inside to go under the posts to give a lead of 44-12, but Keighley had the last score with their third converted try.
15th November 2009
KING CROSS PARK U/15's 52 points.
EAST LEEDS U/15's Nil.
Yorkshire cup 3rd round.
Park moved safely into the next round of the Yorkshire cup with a great all-round team performance against a plucky East Leeds side who never gave in despite the scoreline. Park put down their marker in just the 3rd minute when after a flowing handling move from left to right Jake Smith cut through the line to score the opening points
If the visitors were a little surprised by the brilliant handling they were up against, it wouldn't be long before they were confronted by some pace to go with it, when just a few minutes later, stand off, Josh Hunt showed a perfect half dummy to put enough doubt in the mind of the defender and he was through the gap before anyone could lay a hand on him for a skillfully taken try.
Right centre Jake Smith then laid three tries on for his wing partner Ross Haswell who scored a great hat trick of tries in a devastating right side combination in a ten minute period in the middle of the first half of play. With Alex Mellor adding one conversion to the five tries scored scored Park were well on top on the scoreboard at 22-0 and playing some fantastic rugby league in the process.
With the physical Park forwards dominating their opposites, half backs Adam Brook and Josh Hunt were laying on some beautiful ball for the three quarters and mixing things up a bit when opting to keep ball in hand and taking one the line themselves.
It only took 2 minutes of the second half for Callum Dunne to scorch over for a well worked blind side move, his try too wide to add the conversion and just 3 minutes later came the try of the match when Alex Mellor put William Milner through a gap with a nice pass out of the tackle, Milner then cleverly found Matthew Ward who hit the ball at pace and took it 50 metres upfield on a great run, only to be hauled down just short of what would have been a well deserved score, but his quick play the ball allowed dummy half Taylor Fearon to cleverly hit the ramaging run of Josh Saltonstall who gloriously crashed over under the posts for a superb try which Milner coolly slotted over the extras.
Emmerson Whittle was next on the scoresheet with a well taken effort on 17 minutes and if he thought there was any rest after that he found himself in receipt of the ball after Milner collected the kick off re-start, handed onto Giggal who made some ground before handing onto Whittle and off he went again to beat the cover from the half way line to score his second in as many minutes, Milner again adding the conversion to bring up the 40 point mark.
With just 5 minutes remaining, Haswell now playing in the second row burst his way through to score his fourth try of the game and capped a great individual performance, Josh Hunt kicked the conversion and then added to his own personal points tally when he collected William Milner's brilliant chip over the defence and went over from 40 metres with nobody to beat, again he added the conversion right on the final whistle.
Park now await the draw for the next round and it's bound to be tough with a lot of good sides left in the competition, but they have the tools and ambition to do well and are playing some wonderful rugby league at the moment.
8th November 2009
KING CROSS PARK 22 WHINMOOR WARRIORS 20
King Cross maintained their unbeaten start to the season in this tough game which was played in atrocious conditions and did things the hard way with three of the visitor's tries coming from handling errors which were brought about with the constant downpour of rain, and only managing to convert one of their own five tries, along with a deluge of penalties against them, they played most of the second period without the ball and had to give everything in a backs to the wall defensive performance.
The character of the team came through this test and it meant that any scoring opportunities at all had to be siezed, the quality in the team and their patience saw them through and tries were scored at crucial times.
Despite the weather conditions, the first try on 8 minutes came from a brilliant handling move from right to left and Callum Dunne slid over to score showing a good turn of pace. The back three of Emmerson Whittle, Alex Mellor & Will Milner grafted away in defence as well as doing the hard yards along with Zak Dewhurst who always looked a handful with the ball. On 20 minutes one of the visiting centres needlessly got involved in something and got despatched to the sin bin and Adam Brook made a smart break before handing on to Dewhurst who went on an a diagonal run to score wide out on the right. The teams went into the half time break with Park leading 8-0.
The second half was only two minutes old when Whinmoor scored their first try which was converted, but Park immediately hit back when Dunne scored his second try of the game wide on the left. Adam Brook was next to score when he shaped to pass and the defence went with his dummy and he cheekily ducked under the only serious challenge for a brilliant try.
Things got a little tense when Whinmoor scored two quickfire tries, neither of which were converted, but the lead was now just 16-14 and with ten minutes left, it was game on.
The Park lads lifted and responded superbly, Josh Hunt went over for a brilliant try from 40 metres with some fantastic footwork and crucially in the final outcome he went under the posts for William Milner to calmly slot over the extras.
The game wasn't over yet though, and Whinmoor scored with the final play of the game when their second rower followed up his speculative kick and somehow managed to come up with the ball from what looked like a completed tackle, the referee waved play on and allowed the try to stand, the conversion was added and the final whistle went to end an enthralling match.
November 1st 2009
UNDER 16
King Cross Park 52 Greetland 0
Yorkshire Cup
King Cross Park made the short journey to local rivals Greetland All-Rounders in this Yorkshire cup tie and took the opportunity to try some different positional combinations and despite the game being played in horrendous winds, both teams performed very well, King Croos throwing the ball around very effectively in the wide open spaces and Greetland to their credit, were defensively very strong in the middle.
After a shaky start by both teams making a couple of handling errors, Emmerson Whittle settled the visitors down when receiving the ball at right centre form a scrum 20 metres out he showed some class in the line he ran to ghost through the defence on 3 minutes to score a try which was too wide to convert.
Twice, Greetland put some territorial pressure on King Cross and both times they cleared their line to go deep into the home danger zone and a brilliant interchange of passes down the left flank between second rowers Jack Crabtree & Jake Smith confused the Greetland defence and Smith carried the ball and timed a perfect pass to Tom Johnstone who finished off the move in style and rounded the posts to make the conversion a little easier for Adam Brook to covert, which he did. Although Greetland were giving their all, and the elements against King Cross playing up the hill, they remained composed and patient and a 10-0 half time scoreline was a fair reflection of both teams efforts.
The second half was to be a different looking King Cross side with a lot of substitutions and they basically ground out this victory with the forwards doing their jobs in the middle and the pace of Callum Dunne, Josh Hunt, Ryan Crabtree and the dazzling footwork of Jordan Batty being too much for Greetland to defend out wide.
Matthew Ward gave his strongest performance of the season playing at prop, constantly taking several tacklers to halt his progress and Max Zazulak looked hungry for work scooting out of dummy half to help the forwards. Josh Hunt playing at stand off opened up the scoring in the 6th minute of the second period, going round the opposition and diving over in the left corner and Alex Mellor converted from the touchline. Adam Brook was next on the score sheet with a brilliant dummy pass and side-step to go over at the right of the posts, Alex Mellor adding the conversion.
Jake Smith was causing the home defence some problems with his dummy half running after replacing the injured Taylor Fearon at hooker who had taken a bump to the head, and gaining the go-forward for his team to build some pressure on the front foot. On 15 minutes, Whittle scored his second try of the match when picking the ball out of the scrum on half way and winning the foot race down the hill to score wide on the right.
Replacements Josh Saltonstall and Zak Dewhurst worked hard when they came on the field and Brad Giggal was solid with and without the ball showing some consistency on his recent performances.
Skipper William Milner marshalled his team well and put some nice kicks in to pin back the home side and Ross Haswell was a tower of strength in the middle.
The final score came courtesy of Jordan Batty who got onto the end of a flowing handling move to the right, his footwork in checking back against the flow was enough to create the gap he needed to carve through and go in under the posts, Mellor again added the extras.
Sunday 25th October
OVENDEN 12 KING CROSS PARK 26
West Riding Cup 1st round.
The King Cross Park side gave a very strong account of themselves in this derby match in blustery conditions which hampered their normal free flowing style of passing just a little bit. Their forwards totally dominated their hosts and played the game tight around the ruck to cut down on possible handling errors and Ovenden simply couldn't cope with the intensity and with four of the five King Cross tries coming from their forwards it gives some indication of their strength on the day.
The game started with Park adjudjed to have lost the ball in the very first tackle of the game and Ovenden scored straight from the resultant scrum, which when converted gave a 6-0 scoreline in the first minute of the game.
Such was the determination & organisation of the King Cross Park defence, that Ovenden score was their only of the match until the 58th minute, two minutes from the final whistle and credit must be given to the lads after such a start, they simply tackled everything in front of them and were soon on top physically.
Zak Dewhurst led the way with a complete all round performance, proving difficult to tackle every time he had the ball. Emmerson Whittle scored two tries on his first return to his former club and gave another solid performance in the second row.
Park had to wait until the 9th minute for their first chance and William Milner ran through the heart of the Ovenden defence from 30 metres out to go under the posts for Alex Mellor to bring the scores level with the conversion.
After some strong field position, Josh Hunt went over four minutes later from a dazzling handling move straight from the training ground which worked perfectly to nose the visitors in front for a lead they wouldn't lose. Whittle was next to score on 18 minutes with his first and then just two minutes later, Tom Johnstone barged his way over only to have the score ruled out for a double-movement, the boys were really on top now and looked dangerous with the ball and in control when defending, with the half time break coming and in front 16-6 with downhill and with the elements to their advantage in the second half they looked in confident mood.
The first sign of a score in the second half came on 13 minutes when Alex Mellor backed up a brilliant break from Taylor Fearon and Mellor went over wide on the right and appeared to be harshly penalised for a double movement and the score dis-allowed again, but the go-forward was excellent and the support was available, all good signs to work on.
On 18 minutes, Whittle scored his second try after Zak Dewhurst cleared from his own '25 metres line deep into Ovenden territory and Mellor converted to stretch the lead to 20-6. With just three minutes remaining, Alex Mellor ran the ball on the last tackle, catching out the home defence who probably expected to defend a kick, but he took his chance and dived over for a brilliant try which he also converted, making the score 26-6. There was just enough time left at the re-start for Ovenden to collect their own kick off and score a try which was converted to make the final score 26-12 in a tough game of rugby league.
Sunday 11th October
SKIRLAUGH 10 KING CROSS PARK 26
King Cross Park travelled to Hull for the second time in a fortnight and were faced with very strong opposititon again which made for an outstanding game of youth rugby league at the highest level. The game started at a frantic pace and there were some crunching tackles in midfield from the kick off. Skirlaugh completed their first set with a kick deep which Jordan Batty returned very well and the forwards blasted their way up-field and when William Milner put a deft kick over on the last tackle, the right winger collected it and was met with an enormous tackle in his own 20 metres by Zak Dewhurst and Jake Smith which jarred the ball free on impact, Smith reacting quickest to pick up the ball and set off to the try line only to be harshly called back for the referee to award a scrum to the visitors. Alex Mellor broke from the first tackle after the scrum to dart over for the first of his four tries in what was a brilliant performance from himself.
From the re-start, the visiting forwards were guided around by Brad Traviss at dummy half and Emmerson Whittle, Dewhurst and Ross Haswell all having big runs with the ball before the class of William Milner and Alex Mellor linked up with Adam Brook & Josh Hunt at half back to attack out wide. The second try came on 9 minutes when Josh Saltonstall found a gap out at centre and he went over for a strongly taken try in the same spot as Mellor had done to increase the lead in what was becoming a vey physical encounter.
The nature of the tackling was having an effect on some of the forwards and they were cleverly rotated at crucial times of the game with Matthew Ward and Brad Giggal coming off the bench to carry on the good work and Taylor Fearon looked sharp at hooker, choosing his moment carefully when to attack the defence and when to distribute. The right sided combination of Tom Johnstone and Callum Dunne were making some good ground with their attacks and it was no surprise when Mellor scored his second try with a brilliant chip over and collect on the last tackle to go over for a try that he also converted to take the Park lead to 14-0 and it stayed that way until the half time break.
Two minutes after the re-start, William Milner had a try opportunity turned down by the ref who was in a perfect position, calling the grounding short of the line, but the Park side kept the pressure on and spent long periods in a good field position.
It was a rare completed set that got Skirlaugh on the scoreboard with a towering bomb that wasn't cleaned up and the winger went over in the corner on 9 minutes.
The next score also went to the home side when their strong running substitute prop went through a few tackles to barge his way over and the successful kick brought the game back to 14-10 to Park and it was game on with just 12 minutes left on the clock and the home side getting some confidence from their two tries.
The resulting re-start played a critical part in the final result, as Milner kicked high & deep, the home player stepped into touch on receiving the ball, the referee correctly awarding a scrum with head & feed being awarded to King Cross Park 20 metres out. Mellor picked the ball out of the scrum and shot in under the posts for a smartly taken try which he also converted to restore the lead back to a crucial ten point gap at 20-10 and relieve some tension. With just 2 minutes left on the clock, Mellor rounded off the scoring with another brilliant piece of skill on the last tackle, drawing the full back and delicately chipping over him, re-gathering and cantering away to score his fourth of the match and then adding the conversion, to round off a brilliant solo performance and also a great team effort against a very good side who had won all their previous games this season.
Sunday 4th October
KING CROSS PARK U/16's 62 OULTON RAIDERS U/16's 6
This Yorkshire combination division 3 fixture was something of a mis-match with the visitors arriving with only eleven players and it soon emerged that there was an obvious difference in terms of quality as well as quantity without being dis-respectful. Although missing the services of Jordan Batty, Taylor Swaine and Max Zazulak all due to illness or injury, the King Cross side established an early lead and then started to try out different positional combinations and some of the handling moves paid off as they stretched the already thin defence of Oulton.
Park scored twelve tries in total with Callum Dunne and Josh Hunt both bagging a brace and one each for Jake Smith, Ryan Crabtree, Tom Johnstone, Ross Haswell, Zak Dewhurst, Emmerson Whittle, Jack Crabtree and Josh Saltonstall marked his long awaited club debut with a fine solo try from the half way line.
The score could have been a lot more but for some wayward attempts at conversions due mainly to the tries being scored out wide, but there were successful kicks by:-
Adam Brook ( 1 ), Zak Dewhurst ( 1 ), Alex Mellor ( 5 )
Sunday 27th September
WEST HULL LIONS U/16's 16 KING CROSS PARK U/16's 24
King Cross Park travelled to West Hull to face their old rivals expecting a very tough match and that's exactly how the game turned out, but bouyed by their good start to the season the lads went there in confident mood and it showed in their performance.
The game started in typically physical fashion with both sets of forwards tearing into each other in a battle to achieve dominance and set a platform for the remainder of the game. Such was the intensity that the first break of any sort came in the fith minute when Jordan Batty picked up a bobbling kick and set off mid-field to go 50 metres only to be ankle tapped as he side stepped the home side's full back in a try saving tackle and the West Hull side scrambled back and regained their defensive line.
King Cross maintained their good field position and on the last tackle of the set, Alex Mellor put up a towering cross field bomb and Emmerson Whittle leapt to gather possession about ten metres from the line and went over for the game's first score, Mellor added the goal.
The game was becoming just as exciting as one would expect judging by the previous encounters and on 18 minutes the home loose forward went through some tackles for his side's first score and with the successful conversion the scores were locked up at 6-6 which would continue that way until the half time break some 12 minutes later, but a couple of significant injuries to Taylor Fearon and Adam Brook both within a couple of minutes of the equalising score meant that some changes had to be made and players swapping positions, but with everyone pulling in the same direction the line stood firm and the lads battled through to their well earned break in what was almost summer rugby conditions which must have taken it's toll on the fitness levels.
The second half started as intense as the first half had been and Jordan Batty was again the catalyst for the vistors with a brilliant kick return which he jinked and danced his way deep into the opposition's territory and his quick play the ball caught West Hull out as they attempted to re-group the ball was whipped right and Zak Dewhurst powered over for a try which Mellor converted.
It was a great exhibition of skills on a decent surface and when Josh Hunt got the ball in space he found a gap close to the left touchline to go fully 80 metres and once he was in the clear there was no stopping him scoring a wonderful solo try, Mellor again added the goal in a perfect display of goal-kicking to open up an 18-6 lead which they looked good for.
The home side added a score of their own when their full back followed up a speculative kick to go over in the right corner which was converted and the King Cross lead was cut back to six points at 18-12 and it was game on again in this outstanding game of rugby league.
The next attack came only a minute later and down the same flank, Max Zazulak was very unfortunate to get bundled into touch in the act of scoring, but again credit has to be given to the home side for their tenacity. From the resulting scrum the home loose forward broke open side from the base and William Milner shocked him with an audacious one-on-one ball steal right under his own posts and about ten metres out and with the King Cross lads reacting to the situation better than their hosts, the ball came back to the left for Tom Johnstone to blast his way over for a try which whem Mellor converted gave them a 24-12 lead.
Once again the physical side of the match was taking it's toll with Whittle, Mellor & Dewhurst all having to leave the field for treatment to injuries and everyone was working really hard for each other all across the park to compensate for their losses.
On 28 minutes, Will Miner took a pot-shot drop goal which never really threatened to go over, but that attempt was an indication of how close the game was and he was justified in trying to kill off the game when West Hull just a minute later went up the other end and scored their final try of the match which was too wide to convert, so the final score ended up as 16-24 and everyone involved in the game deserves credit for the spirit in which the game was played and for the skills and fitness levels on display.
Sunday 20th September
KEIGHLEY COUGARS U/16's 6 KING CROSS PARK U/16's 44
King Cross travelled to Keighley determined to make amends for last week's missed opportunity of winning that particular game and came up against hosts who could only muster together 12 players at the start of the game, their numbers were further reduced in the very first minute of the game when one of their players left the field in an ambulance after a serious looking leg injury held up the game for around 35 minutes as he was treated for his injuries.
This injury affected the two teams in very differing ways and it was King Cross who responded to the positive, when, after 3 minutes played, a sweeping handling move went from right to left involving several players and Emmerson Whittle cut back inside his man to score the first of his hat-trick of tries playing at centre.
Only 2 minutes after the initial score the ball went the other way down the attacking line and Ryan Crabtree was the benificiary on the right wing diving over by the corner flag to open up an 8-0 lead.
The home side tried their best to settle into the game, but King Cross were too fast and strong in the forwards and were making massive yard gains, Matthew Ward at the front of things until he left the action with a knee injury. Shortly after he'd departed and was replaced by strong running Tom Johnstone, Adam Brook grubbered a perfect kick on the last tackle into the path of Taylor Fearon who finished it off with a nicely worked try.
Hard working Brad Traviss was the creator of the next score after pouncing on a mis-guided Keighley pass, he scooped it up and set off in a flash and handed on to Zak Dewhurst who hit hit the ball at pace and scattered the defenders in front of him to score a good try which William Milner converted from in front of the posts to give the visitors an confident looking 18-0 lead.
The only real lack of concentration of the first period was when a kick off was left to go dead and the home side capitalised from the goal-line restart to score a converted try right on the half time whistle to bring up the half time break.
Some personnel & positional changes were made at half time and both Jake Smith & Jack Crabtree made good impact with their dummy half scoots and Brad Giggal showed plenty of power and strength, it was no surprise when after only 2 minutes, Josh Hunt showed some classy footwork and speed to ghost in at the right corner and Brook again added the goal from the touchline.
Brook was involved in the next try on 10 minutes with a neat cut-out pass to hit Whittle and he dived over un-challenged.
The King Cross lads were playing with great pace and skill and had far too much for the hosts to cope with, attacking from all over the field and it was no surprise when Whittle barged his way over fro his hat trick, Brook again adding the conversion to make the score 34-6.
On 25 minutes Dewhurst playing out of position get on the end of a planned move at the base of a scrum to score his second with Brook again adding the conversion and the final score came from Brook who re-created the move of the previous try to score one for himself to mako the final score 44-6 and the King Cross lads although only having played two league games go to Hull next week with an unbeaten record to date.
Sunday 13th Sepember 2009
KING CROSS PARK U/16's 22 SKIRLAUGH U/16's 22
Yorkshire combination league match.
King Cross Park opened up their league campaign in the Yorks combination league with this home fixture against Humberside outfit Skirlaugh and after a fantastic first half performance they came exasparatingly close to ruining all of their earlier hard work almost losing the game in the final minutes of an astonishing defensive collapse, after racing to a 22-0 lead at one point.
The off-season decision to transfer into the more competetive combination league will be an interesting move and valuable experiences such as this game will stand the team in good stead for the future, but both teams must take credit for their skills, fitness and application to perform at such a high standard so early in the season.
The home side started very brightly with plenty of possession in the visitors' half of the field and on the last tackle of the set in the 3rd minute of the game, Alex Mellor chipped a neat kick into the in-goal area and despite plenty of attention he was unlucky not to ground the ball before it agonisingly bounced dead.
The visitors struggled to get out of their own half when in possession and it was no surprise when in the 5th minute a brilliant passing move from the right side stretched the defence and Ryan Crabtree received a well timed pass from Tom Johnstone to dive over in the left hand corner for the season's first score.
The game began to ebb & flo as the visitors found their form and attacked with more purpose, but the Park defence was outstanding, twice defending entire sets on their own line and managing to put pressure on their opponents when in good positions.
Alex Mellor was in great form and it was his defence splitting short pass to Will Milner which created the next try, Milner going over just to the left of the posts and Mellor then added the extras, to give a 10-0 lead on 20 mins. There was a steely determination about the home side and Jordan Batty in particular was very brave when cleaning up a testing grubber kick on his own line diving at the feet of an attacker to defuse a dangerous attack.
New-boy Emmerson Whittle slotted into the back row comfortably on his debut and remained hungry for work throughout the game to compliment the other two back rowers, Milner & Mellor. It was this combination who were involved in the next scoring opportunity a minute after the half time break with Milner making the crucial break and quick play the ball, Brad Traviss got a good early ball to Mellor who handed onto Whittle for him to crash over under the crossbar, Mellor again added the extras.Straight from the re-start, the visitors were stunned as Zak Dewhurst received the kick off and promptly went 70 metres to score, ripping through the broken defensive line and winning the foot-race to score under the posts, Mellor again converting. At 22-0, King Cross looked home and confindent with only 2 minutes of the second half gone, and Mellor made another incisive break shortly after, going down the blind side and Josh Hunt ghosted up beside him in support but the pass went astray as the full back was caught flat-footed, but the chance wasn't taken.
As the home side piled on the pressure at one end, they had to soak some up at their own end, with Tom Johnstone out jumping his opposite centre to claim a menacing cross field bomb and relieve the pressure, but this was only the start of Skirlaugh's comeback, with just 10 minutes remaining, Skirlaugh scored what amounted to the first of their four tries in a critical 9 minute onslaught and with the scores tied at 22-all the final try was scored too wide out for the conversion to worry the scoreboard.
With one minute remaining of this pulsating game the drama wasn't over as the home forwards retrieved the ball and drove deep into the heart of the Skirlaugh half and on the last tackle, Mellor scuffed a drop goal attempt at winning the game.
Both teams played very good in patches and it will be interesting to see how the season pans out if they improve on this very high standard of rugby league.
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