TOP Under 18s players Ben Starkey and Kieren Joseph stepped up to the mark for Newsome Panthers and made massive contributions as the unbeaten Second Division leaders secured a 44-18 victory at Dearne Valley Bulldogs.
That made it six wins out of six for coach Phil Joseph’s side, and also means they are the only side in the division still with a 100% record after Emley Moor were held to a 26-26 draw by Stanningley A.
Despite Newsome having to make a number of changes due to the on-going injury crisis, they were soon into their stride with a first-minute converted try by Ben Feehan.
This was soon followed by Feehan’s second before Dan Nelmes added try No3 and Ross Studholme slotted over his second conversion to make it 16-6 at the interval.
Valley started the second half the stronger and had soon cut the deficit to 16-14.
But that was the signal for the Panthers to step up a gear.
Damien Kenchington set the ball rolling and Feehan followed up to complete his hat trick.
And next up was the try of the encounter from Simon Burkinshaw, who dummied a pass to Feehan and outpaced the home defence on a 60m run to the line.
Nelmes was next on the scoresheet following one his barnstorming runs and then Feehan added his fourth, which was again converted.
This was another fine all-round team performance, with the Farrell brothers, Steve and Dave, and Kenchington leading the way on defence.
Vocally and in metres made, Wes Devlin was named man-of-the-match for Newsome, with Burkinshaw named the top performer by the opposition coach.
