Birkenshaw 25 Wibsey Warriors 22

Birkenshaw pulled off a shock victory against rivals Wibsey Warriors to lift the Bradford ARL Jack Senior Memorial Cup in a cracking final at Odsal today.

Wibsey opened the scoring after just three minutes when a quick passing movement saw winger Jamie Brentley in for a touchdown and scrum half Simon Sewell converted.

Birky hit back when the in-form Gav Mezals struck to close the gap to two points.

And they took the lead when full back Ben Nabozny showed great skill to crash over.

Midway through the half, the Birky crowd were on their feet when Mezals intercepted a loose pass to race 75 yards to score. Simon Lindsay added the extras to give them a 14-6 lead before Lind-say stepped up to notch a penalty goal.

Wibsey dug in and their efforts paid off when second row Simon Speight took a great ball from full back Mike Derricks to dive over. Sewell added the goal to see Wibsey close the gap to four points at the break.

The half-time talk from Wibsey coach Jason Hirst paid dividends as they were level after just five minutes of the restart when Sewell crossed the whitewash, although he was unable to convert.

Wibsey weren’t to lead for long as the game swung again, this time winger Alan Binns showing neat work to touch down out wide. With the game so close, the successful touchline conversion from Lindsay was priceless.

Birky stand-off Anthony Lindsay, who was player of the match, then showed great awareness to slot over a drop goal to extend their lead to 23-16. Wibsey weren’t finished though and, on 66 minutes, Kyle Carter cut the deficit further and, when Sewell hit the target with the kick, it was game on at 23-22.

But Wibsey knocked on under their sticks, giving Birky field position and, when they were awarded a penalty, Simon Lindsay stepped up to convert and clinch the cup.