ST JOSEPH’S are off the mark!
After losing their opening seven Pennine League Championship Division fixtures, the men from Fartown have broken their duck.
A trip to mid-table York side New Earswick All Blacks promised to test Joe’s to the full.
But they put their damaging start to their campaign firmly behind them to secure a well-earned 26-18 triumph.
The obvious hope is that Joe’s can now build on this win – which moves them up to third bottom – with a second successive victory over the All Blacks at Fartown on Saturday.
Slaithwaite Saracens are another side in buoyant mood after returning to winning Premier Division ways, thanks to a 24-12 triumph at bottom club Dewsbury Moor.
The Saracens were beaten by bogey team Halifax Irish in their last League outing, but made no mistake chalking up their sixth win from seven top-flight starts against their Kirklees rivals.
At the heart of their latest success was head coach Marlon Billy, who grabbed a hat trick of tries to keep the pressure on leaders Queens.
Ben Feehan opened the scoring with a try in the corner, but without injured first-choice goalkicker Gavin Dyson the conversion failed.
And 10 minutes later Billy stormed over for the first of his three tries to give his side an 8-0 interval advantage.
Within five minutes of the restart, Billy added a third unconverted try for his side and it looked as if the visitors were heading for a comfortable afternoon.
That was briefly thrown into doubt when the hosts finally got on the scoresheet 10 minutes later when Slaithwaite failed to deal with a quickly-taken penalty.
But their response couldn’t have been better as they grabbed two tries in as many minutes from Sam Ansell and Billy, with Ansell also adding a conversion.
Dewsbury did score a late try, but it was little more than a consolation effort.
The victory was backed up by Saracens’ second string, who recorded an excellent 10-8 home triumph over leaders Hanging Heaton.
The win keeps Slaithwaite third, but now hot on the heels of second-placed Meltham All Blacks, who suffered a disappointing 28-0 defeat at Hunslet Old Boys A.
Emley Moor have kept the pressure on Division II leaders Illingworth with an 18-0 success over Clayton.
But fellow Huddersfield side Lindley Swifts look to be emerging as a dark horse for the title after making it four wins from five with a 28-6 home win over West Craven Warriors.
