Hat-trick Riley has eye on promotion at Sedgley
HAVING scored his first hat-trick in his 333rd league appearance, Sedgley Park stalwart Matt Riley is hoping to reach another milestone before the time comes to hang up his boots.
The strong-running centre’s treble helped his side to a 36-29 home win over Sheffield Tigers and kept them among the early pacesetters in National 2 North.
And Riley, 32, would love for them to go the distance and win promotion.
“We’ve won five from seven despite having tons of important and experienced forwards missing,” he said. “The young lads have done well but we have been a bit light in the ball-carrying department. We’re starting to get a few of the older heads back now and hopefully we can kick on.
“I’ve been relegated twice but never been promoted in all the years I’ve been here,” the former Sale Shark continued.
“We’ve come close, losing two play-off games against Old Albanians and Chinnor, so it would be nice to finish with a league title and try and get them back up a bit.”
Riley is confident Sedgley would not make the same mistake as other clubs who’ve tried to punch above their weight should they win promotion.
“It is important if you go up not to just splash the cash and desert the lads who have got you there,” Riley said. “It has to be sustainable because I’ve seen so many teams yo-yo over the years.
“When I started in the Championship, you had teams like Manchester, Newbury and Waterloo and they all sort of went by the wayside after putting all their eggs in one basket.
“Sedgley haven’t been daft or overstretched themselves since they dropped down and have stuck to a plan so it would be a nice achievement for us to go up.”
Since making his Sedgley debut against Bedford in 2006, Riley has scored 94 tries and 1,255 points.
“It was nice to get the hattrick after coming close a few times, although none were from that far out.
“I’ve had chances to leave the club loads of times, for more money or in a higher league, but I’ve enjoyed it that much here, I’ve never even batted an eyelid.”