Hillsborough A 16

Silsden PR 20.

An understrength Silsden Park Rangers travelled to Sheffield to face Hillsborough Hawks A in their first away fixture of the season,and came away with the points after a hard fought match.

In a gutsy display Rangers maintained their unbeaten start to the campain with a victory built on team spirit and a desire to win.

They were first to score after the Rangers pack made early strides into Hillsborough territory. Crisp handling from stand off Danny Horne and Phil Lane set up a fine opening score for Ivan Tough who took a huge high shot before crossing in the corner to give the visitors a 4-0 lead.

Hillsborough came back soon after to level matters before taking the lead with a penelty goal. The tit-for-tat continued when Mark Kent added a penalty goal to level things once more.

Danny Horne was sin-binned but that just seemed to fire up the visitors who were led superbly by captain Dave Webster. Silsden then struck the killer blow before halftime when Phil Lane crossed after more slick handling, this time by Shaun Cooper.

Mark Kent added a goal and penalty goal before the break and Rangers were looking good at half time leading 14-6.

Hillsborough had the best of the early exchanges in the second half as they began to claw their way back into the game. Strong tackling on Sisden's line prevented the home side time and again with big defensive efforts from Tobi Hooper, Mark Stott and Dean Farrell.

However with the home side having most of the possession they came up with two tries to lead by 16-14.

Coach Tony Williams brought on himself from the bench to steady the ship and had a huge influence as Silsden snatched the points.

Mark Kent kicked another penalty to level at 16-16, and with the move of the match Danny Horne created a gap for man of the match Phil Lane to run through like an express train, he drew the full-back and passed to Mark Kent who ran 60-yards before been hauled down just short of the line.

However a quick play the ball was pick up by Phil Lane who crashed over for the match-winning try.

A relived Silsden Coach said: "I'm proud of my players. The Silsden teams of the past would not have been able to pick themselves up like that after falling behind in the second half but we showed a lot of character and team spirit."

Tomorrow (Saturday) they face the same opposition this time at home with a 2-30pm kick off.