On a wet and cold afternoon in West Leeds, the Wibsey Warriors made their first visit to the Buffaloes and came away empty handed. The rain started just after dinner and apart from a 15-minute spell around half time was continuous and mostly torrential. The weather should have made the ball slippery like a ball of soap. But both teams, in the main, adapted well to the conditions.
Buffaloes Man of the Match, Nathan Hammond, Started the game strongly, but in the fifth minute he broke through the Warriors defensive line and threw a speculative ball to his winger which was intercepted by the opposition winger. Who raced away, thinking he was over for the opening score of the game, only the superb defence of Buffaloes Full Back Aaron Henry saved the day.
Three minutes later Wibsey were in for the opening try of the match when Winger Jacob Smilie crossed the line, with Hooker Conor McParland unable to convert the try, making the score 0-4.
In the 12th minute, Hammond was over for his first try of the afternoon, when he went on a rampaging run, leaving defenders in his wake. Henry added the conversion, giving the Buffaloes the lead 6-4.
Four minutes later, Hammond was over again, this time taking the ball from the scrum base and running across the field to score, with Henry again successful with the conversion, doubling the lead to 12-4.
In the 22nd Minute captain, Brad Wilson threw an outrageous dummy which the defence bought, creating a huge gap for Wilson to stroll through, Henry added the extra two points, making the score 18-4.
In the 26th Minutes, one of the Wibsey Players headbutted Substitute, Curtis Sidebottom, who came back with two hard hitting punches which didn’t move the Wibsey player. The referee gave Sidebottom a lucky escape and sin-binned him.
Three minutes later and the Buffaloes were on the attack again, when the Daniel Conroy, stopped the play by playing on at the tackle, The referee sent him to the sin-bin for a professional foul. The Wibsey man of the match Mark Darragh, abused the referee and was marched ten metres further down field for dissent, he continued to abuse the referee, and he too was sent to the sin-bin.
Seconds before half time, Hammond broke the defence again, and with an overlap, he passed the ball to his winger, but the pass wasn’t taken in, and a chance went begging.
Nine minutes into the second half, Hammond was in for his Hat-trick, following a high cross field kick by Connor McGill, which Hammond gathered in and raced 20 metres to score. Henry was unsuccessful with the conversion. Making the score 22-4.
In the 53rd minute, WIbsey were over for their second try of the afternoon, when Josh Chamberlain crashed over for an unconverted try, narrowing the lead to 22-8.
In the 59th minute, Hammond completed a sweeping move for his fourth try of the afternoon, again Henry was unsuccessful with the conversion. Making the score 26-8.
Four minutes later Hammond was in again for his fifth and final try of the day, with Henry adding the extra two points, extending the lead to 32-8.
in the 66th minute, Loose forward Tom White was over the line for the Buffaloes final try of the afternoon, making the score 36-8.
In the remaining game time, it was all Wibsey, capitalising on some BuFFaloes mistake. First, in the 69th minutes Brad Tattersall was in for a try with McParland converting, making the score 36-14, and then with two minutes left on the clock, Chamberlain was in for his second of the afternoon, reducing the lead to 36-18.
Buffaloes: 1) Aaron Henry, 2) Rob Brown, 10) Nathan Hammond, 4) Kieran Hudson, 5) Garry Butterfield, 19) Connor McGill, 15) Brad Wilson ©, 8) Tom Barraclough, 9) Cameron McLachlan, 3) Charlie McMurray, 11) Tom Langton, 14) Aiden Baranyi, 13) Tom White, Subs (all used); 16) Tom Jenkins, 17) Ben Worrincy, 12) Curtis Sidebottom, 20) Anthony Mills.
Tries: Hammond (12, 16, 49, 59, 63), Wilson (22), White (66)
Goals: Henry 4 from 7
Warriors: 1) Paul Jennings, 2) Bruce Mputu, 3) James Rodger, 4) Joe Ratcliffe, 5) Jacob Smilie, 6) Brad Tattersall, 7) Ryan Goldsborough, 8) Ross Simpson, 9) Conor McParland, 10) Alex Stephens, 11) Chris Rodger, 12) Daniel Conroy, 13) Brad Wright, Subs (all used); 14) Josh Chamberlain, 16) Mark Darragh, 17) William McCormack, 18) Ben Cousins.
Tries: Smilie (8), Chamberlain (53, 78), Tattersall (69)
Goals: McParland 1 from 4
Men of the Match
Buffaloes: Nathan Hammond
Warriors: Mark Darragh