Hillsborough 12 Albion 6 - Albion travelled down the M1 to Sheffield for the return fixture against Hillsborough Hawks, who are in their first Conference season.

Albion were looking for their elusive first 'double' of the season, but it was not to be.

On a wide pitch Albion opened brightly, moving the ball wide while the Hawks chose the middle of the field approach. The opening encounters were fast and furious with neither team able to gain any advantage.

Albion's full back Aly Feather was kept busy as the Hawks repeatedly kicked out of defence, and Albion's cause was not made any easier when both Rob Bailey and Dean Brookes had to be substituted due to injuries.

Albion came close to scoring but Richard Harrison's pass went into touch, and minutes later Rob Haughey took the wrong option and was tackled just short of the line.

Hawks winger Nathan Hall's elusive running from acting half caused concern, but the only points of the half came in the 36th minute when Albion were penalised for holding down in the tackle. Hawks full back Jason Davidson converted to give his side a 2-0 lead.

From the re-start Albion were penalised and Jason Davidson made them pay with a successful penalty.

Worse was to come as Albion lost the ball in the tackle and from the resulting play-the-ball Nathan Hall scampered 20-metres for a try by the posts which was converted by Davidson.

At this point it was all the Hawks as they used the wind to push Albion back into their own quarter, but some good catching by both Chris Brookes and Ali Feather kept the Hawks at bay. Sub Bobby Brown, Simon Kelk and Ian Schifilliti strove hard to get Albion onto the score sheet as both defences worked overtime.

A further penalty from the Davidson further increased the Hawks' lead to 12-0.

Albion took the game back to the Hawks and in the best move of the game on 78 minutes, sub Dean Brookes broke the Hawks defensive line. His inside ball saw Simon Kelk put Ben Farrar over by the posts, Dean Brookes adding the goal.

For Albion Simon Kelk, Ali Feather and Australian Ian Schifilliti worked tirelessly.

Converted for the new archive on 30 June 2000. Some images and formatting may have been lost in the conversion.