Dudley Hill 32, Redhill 30: Once again Dudley Hill are left to carry the flag for Bradford in the third round of the Silk Cut Challenge Cup.

A large crowd witnessed an old fashioned cup tie full of points and incidents as the Hill shrugged off a month of inactivity and the loss of three players in a pre-Christmas swoop by Sheffield Eagles.

Before they had a touch of the ball the Hill were six points down to a well worked set move, but by the quarter-hour mark a sweeping move saw Richard Bingley powering to the line for Hill's first try.

A penalty converted by Gordon Long, when the visitors were guilty of ball stealing, put the teams level but within a minute the visitors had regained the lead when a neat grubber kick caught out the home defence.

By the half hour mark a player from each side was cooling down in the sin-bin as tempers frayed, and then Hill's long serving prop Mark Todd took a hand in proceedings by opening the gap for Bingley to storm through for his second try.

Long levelled the game with the conversion and shortly before the break he stepped past two defenders for a well earned try and with the conversion pushed Hill into the lead for the first time.

That looked to be it for the first period but hooker Dean Blankley got himself on the score sheet with a trademark try right on the whistle.

Hill's ten point advantage was extended ten minutes into the second half when Todd was again instrumental in sending Steve Brown powering towards the line. As he cut inside the last remnants of the defence a high tackle knocked him off balance, but he still had the momentum to grab the try.

The Redhill player received his marching orders for that incident and within two minutes the visitors' indiscipline cost them dear as their hooker was dismissed for a blatant kick on a prone Dudley Hill player.

The home side looked to have sealed the game when Jimmy Haley slipped over for a try and Long added the conversion, but then ten minutes of mayhem ensued as the visitors desperately kept the ball alive and Hill's defence tired after their long lay-off.

Three converted tries narrowed the lead to two points and Hill certainly looked rocky. But a couple of well timed tackles by man of the match Long prevented a further score and Hill finished by pressing the visitors' line and were denied only by some desperate defence.

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