Shock Siddal defeat on Humberside

Siddal's steady improvement came to a juddering halt with a 32-28 defeat away to a Myton Warriors side who have been struggling in the National Conference League's top section this season.
Rugby league - Siddal v Leigh Miners Rangers. Danny Williams for Siddal.Rugby league - Siddal v Leigh Miners Rangers. Danny Williams for Siddal.
Rugby league - Siddal v Leigh Miners Rangers. Danny Williams for Siddal.

The Chevinedge men let an 18-point lead slip but might have saved themselves at the death when they had a try ruled out.

In the early exchanges there was no sign of what was to come as the visitors were on the front foot.

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Skipper Byron Smith led by example and Jack Georgiou and Canaan Smithies also made strong runs.

Myton were forced to drop out from under the posts as Sean McCormack’s neat kick pinned the home side behind the try line.

The repeat set allowed the platform for Georgiou to force the ball over the line. Billy Gaylor added the conversion and Siddal were 6-0 ahead after four minutes.

Josh Greenwood-MacDonald was next to feature, breaking from deep in his own half to beyond half way.

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Siddal maintained the pressure and it was no surprise when stand off Jake Smith dummied his way through the Myton defence to touch down unopposed after 10 minutes. Gaylor’s conversion stretched the lead to 12-0.

In Siddal’s next play, Lewis Hosty broke through the defence and was brought down five yards from the try line. As the home side struggled to get back, the tackler held on too long for the referee’s liking, resulting in a sin- binning. Siddal made the extra man advantage pay after 18 minutes when Georgiou repeated his earlier try. Gaylor’s conversion made it 18-0 and Myton looked hard to fancy.

After 23 minutes, a skirmish involving the majority of players on both sides, changed the tempo of the game. A red card was shown to one player from each side and Siddal couldn’t maintain their dominance.

Myton began to bounce off tackles, off load and were starting to gain more metres from their sets.

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They scored a scrappy try when stand off Nathan Slater’s grubber kick caused confusion in the Siddal defence and winger Lee James touched down. The conversion made it 6-18 after 30 minutes.

Myton scored again five minutes later when poor defending allowed Liam Ward to find space to force his way over the try line by the posts. The conversion brought the scores back to 12-18.

Coaches Darren Phillips and Gareth English read the riot act at half time as they tried to rally their team.

It seemed to have worked when, four minutes into the second period, Greenwood-MacDonald showed his strength and skill to touch down out wide. Gaylor narrowly missed the kick and Siddal had a 10-point lead.

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Siddal then slumped back into another 20 minutes of sloppy play when they allowed Myton to score tries after 50, 53 and 59 minutes.

All three were converted, along with a 65th minute penalty for back chatting to the referee as the home side took a 32-22 lead.

Siddal woke up wand scored the try of the game after 73 minutes when a passage of play involving Gaylor, Jake Smith and Tom Garratt found winger Olly Lewis in space on the touchline. Lewis drew the full back and passed inside to the supporting Hosty who ran clear and touched down under the posts. Gaylor’s conversion reduced the deficit to 32-28.

Siddal thought they might snatch it right at the death when English’s short pass was taken by man-of-the-match Danny Williams who raced clear to touch down after 79 minutes. However, the touch judge surprised everyone by ruling the pass forward and the points were secured by Myton.

Siddal return to Humberside next Saturday when they have a tougher looking fixture against West Hull. A much improved performance will be required to have any chance of victory.