Underbank Rangers have moved three points clear at the top of the Pennine League Second Division table.
While the men from The Cross were rattling up a 26-4 triumph at Kellingley Welfare, title rivals CK Vikings had their clash at Wyke postponed due to a waterlogged pitch.
If the Vikings win their two games in hand over Rangers, they will obviously move a League point clear.
But the fact Bank have already got the points in the bag could ultimately make all the difference in the world.
Rangers’ win at Kellingley was their eighth of the campaign, with the visitors dominating throughout the contest, despite having a few injury concerns to key men.
They were soon ahead when a great pass by Tom Stringer saw the weekly “Burst from Hirst”, as Marc collected the ball and sprinted away to score under the posts for Dominic Horn to convert to in the absence of Oliver Moorhouse.
Good defence from both sides suggested that would be the only score of the half.
But just before the break, fine play from Dominic Horn enabled Tom Stringer to collect the ball and showed power, strength and determination to get over the line for a second converted try.
It took until the 52nd minute for the lead to be increased as Tom Booth followed up last week’s fine individual performance by receiving the ball and jinking left and right to score a fine solo try, with Horn again adding the extras.
The home side eventually crossed for a try of their own four minutes later, but Underbank’s response was instant, with powerhouse Joe Bellas charging over in the corner.
Good defence from man-of-the-match Joe Almond and Darren Southwell kept Kellingley at bay, paving the way for Bellas to double his tally with a carbon copy of his first score to seal the win in style.
Meltham All Blacks are also continuing to be a force in Division VI West, keeping their title challenge alive by ‘nilling’ an opponent for a second time on the trot.
This time, they proved far too strong as they beat Clayton A 30-0.
The All Blacks were immediately into their stride and it was no surprise when good work from Lodge and Richardson put Andy Farrell in under the posts for a try he also converted.
Then substitute Mikey Holmes came on and in the space of 10 minutes scored two typical prop-forward tries, coming off a short ball and charging through the defence and putting the ball down to make it 14-0 at the break.
Early in the second half Ryan ran hard on to a great ball from Lodge to go score from 30m for Josh Worrall to convert.
Worrall then scored a try of his own with a typical run, knocking two defenders over on his way to the line for another converted try before the scoring was completed with five minutes remaining when White again made good ground and off-loaded for Paul Carmody to pick the ball up by his ankles and dive over for a win in which the Little Badger Cider man-of-the-match was Nathan Richardson.
