What a Holliday Cup final!
Underbank Rangers won a thrilling showpiece 28-26 against Moldgreen at Huddersfield YMCA’s Laund Hill.
But that was only after a compelling fightback from Moldgreen, who had been 26-10 down at half time, and after a floodlight failure on 54 minutes held up the match.
Thankfully the groundsman, with the help of an electrician who was in the crowd, managed to fix the problem while players went through a 20-minute keep-warm and spectators retreated to the bar.
Already postponed because of heavy snow on Easter Monday, no-one wanted to have to come back again, so there was plenty of relief when refeee Jason Woodman got things under way once again.
For the record, Underbank ran in five tries and Joe Bellas won the man-of-the-match award for the Holme Valley side.
Bellas was on the try list along with Dayle King, Tom Stringer, Jason Southwell and Dave Pawson, while Oliver Moorhouse landed four kicks.
Darren Rhodes, Jordan Paga, Luke James and Ben Wilstrop crossed for Moldgreen in a stunning effort to claw back the deficit, with James Szuluk, Ben Wilstrop and Kyle McManus landing kicks.
The action will definitely live long in the memory as the young lads from Moldgreen definitely rose to the occasion and gave Underbank a real fright.
It was quite an emotional occasion, too, with David Holmes (Moldgreen), Underbank coach Richard Wilde and physio Stuart Garlick all retiring after the contest between two sides who do battle in the Pennine League Division Two West.
Holmes gave his trophy to John and Sue Taylor in memory of their daughter, Diana, who they lost two years ago (she used to be a physio at Moldgreen and also assisted Stuart Garlick at Huddersfield Inter-Town).
Underbank wore a special kit “in memory of those loved ones no longer with us”, which featured a Toowoomba emblem (Australia) in memory of J Price on one side, and the club’s ‘brothers in arms’ motto on the other.
The shirt also included many other names around the waist of people who had sadly passed away.
Wilde presented a shirt to the Taylors for all the hard work they have put in for Huddersfield amateur rugby league over the years.
