Rampant Rangers make club history
UNSTOPPABLE Underbank have stormed to the top of the National Conference League First Division table after destroying Blackbrook 66-0 at The Cross.
This scintillating fourth victory on the trot was built on a mean defence that ‘swarmed and bullied’ Blackbrook into submission, as well as a ruthlessly efficient, high speed attack that put the visitors to the sword at regular intervals throughout the game.
Eleven tries were scored by eight different scorers to illustrate that Rangers have strike power all over the field.
On top of that, half-back Luke Pogson successfully kicked all 11 conversions and added the opening try to amass a personal tally of 26 points on the afternoon.
It took 14 minutes for the home side to open their account as Joey Eichner broke clear and fed Pogson on his inside for a walk-in touch down.
Then stand-off Danny Hirst raced through four minutes later and fed Craig Williams for a great score.
Rangers were really cranking up the pressure on Blackbrook with great line-speed and punishing hits forcing errors in their own half of the field and, from once such turnover, Andy Boothroyd scurried over from 10m after 25 minutes.
The visitors steadied their ship and were unlucky to have a try disallowed for a forward pass.
But Rangers showed them little sympathy by hitting straight back with their fourth try three minutes before the break as Kris Harrop joined the attack from full-back and fired a fast ball to Eichner to crash over for his first try for the club. Pogson kicked his fourth conversion of the half, this one from the touchline, to make it 24-0 at the break.
The lead was extended four minutes after the restart when Harrop raced through from 30 metres from a well-rehearsed scrum move.
It was now just a matter of how many points Rangers would rack up, and they scored a further six tries in a totally dominant display of both brawn and brain as strong defence set up the positions for them to exploit to the maximum.
Firstly, Alex Chatterton, on his 150th career appearance for Underbank, kicked-through on the last tackle for himself to score.
From the re-start Sam Ansell carried the ball 60 metres and from the play-the-ball Harrop found Chad Bain who rumbled over from 10m.
Ansell, moved to full-back to cover injuries, then grabbed the first of a 14-minute hat trick of tries as he followed a superb Eichner break, with Hirst dancing his way through for a great individual try interspersing the Ansell treble.
The in-form Ansell then received a lovely reverse pass from Harrop to gallop over, and finally Casey Clark scattered the Blackbrook like bowling pins with a bulldozing run to hand on to Ansell for his final score and take Underbank to the top of the Division I table for the first time in the club’s history. Underbank Rangers .......................... Normanton Knights ........................... Hunslet Warriors ................................. Hunslet Club Parkside ...................... Milford Marlins ...................................... Lock Lane ................................................. Hull Dockers ........................................... Blackbrook .............................................. Shaw Cross Sharks ............................ York Acorn ............................................... Featherstone Lions ............................ Ince Rose Bridge .................................