MOOR THE MERRIER

Nov 14 2007 by Chris Roberts, Huddersfield Daily Examiner

EMLEY Moor have moved clear at the top of Division II of the Pennine League after their 21-14 victory over Newsome Panthers in a typically hard-fought derby encounter.

It was a contest the home side deserved to win, with their smarter gameplan helping them secure a first win over Newsome in three seasons.

And they made the brighter start to the contest with a John Roebuck penalty breaking the deadlock.

But that sparked the Panthers into life, and they were soon 8-2 ahead thanks to a Lee McCaffery try and two Ross Studholme goals.

Dave Pawson raced in for a try to reduce the deficit to two points at the break, and leave the game perfectly poised for the second half.

A second Newsome try, this time from Ben Feehan, restored the visitors’ advantage.

But from that moment on, it was Moor who dominated the contest.

Within a minute of Feehan’s score – from a smart Simon Burkinshaw kick – the home side had hit back with a typically strong try from Jason Southwell, which Roebuck converted, to make it 14-12 to Newsome.

Roebuck then levelled the scores with a penalty and quickly followed up with a drop goal to nudge Emley back into the lead.

Newsome were now forced to chase the game and attempted two drop goals, one of which was charged down and the other went agonisingly wide.

And in the last minute as a Newsome player was being treated in the ruck area, the referee waved play-on and Southwell took full advantage of the shortage of players to crash over for the try that sealed victory.

A fine all-round team display made victory possible, while the Panthers’ effort was typified by Daz McKinnie with a remarkable 38 tackles.