Match Review: Orrell St. James vs Midland Hurricnaes (Challenge Cup)

‘War of attrition’ , ‘one for the purists’ , ‘proper rugby league’ - all descriptions heard in the clubhouse at Orrell St James post match  of this fourth round Betfred Challenge Cup tie between the North West Mens League St James and the League 1 Hurricanes .

In a game played in driving sleety rain and freezing temperatures , the Midlands eventually prevailed , a Dan Coates drop goal two minutes from tie finally sealing the tie 12-19 in favour of the visitors but it came at a cost with Dom Flanagan and Kieran Moran both red carded and Anesu Mudoti leaving the field injured  after only his first carry of the game , Head Coach Richard Squires confirming afterwards that the Prop had dislocated his shoulder and looks set for spell on the sidelines.

Matt Welhams prolific scoring run continued ,bringing him his sixth try of the season ,Ben Stead  bagging his 300th point for the club and Nathan Hill first score of 2023 , topping off an outstanding man of the match display from the full back were the highlights for the small band of Midlands Fans who had made the trip up to the compact Bankes Avenue ground .

It was however the Orrell fans who had the first points to cheer ,with Chris Wilson picking up his own grubber kick to the line for a hard earned lead , Bradley Kelk adding the extras to give a 6-0 advantage 17 mins in .

The effervescent Hill was at the heart of everything positive coming the way of the Hurricanes and his had a big part to play in their first score  ,linking up with the Canes Right edge to send Callum Dunne in at the corner on twenty three mins ,Steads conversation just drifted short into the strong wind .

With the polar rain beginning to set in , neither side could gain the upper hand . Canes front row of Bailey ,Moran and the ever willing Windley made good inroads into the opposition territory but the visitors could not capitalise .Midlands Hallett and Hill both coming close to breaking through  but all the luck was with the home side , even more so when Wilson picked up his second try of the afternoon ,another grubber from the half back took a wicked  bounce to bamboozle the Canes defence and with Kelks conversion ,establish St James a 12- 4 lead going into the break .

The kicking game of Coates and Stead gave the St James defence an early warning in the second forty that the Hurricanes were in no mood for surrender . The addition of Chris Cullimore ,Jacob Beer and Adam Willis (both on debut ) from the bench brought further firepower  .A knock on saw a Hurricanes launch  attack  direct from resultant scrum ,to release Hill down the left to cross in the corner , Stead nailed the conversion to bring up his 300th point for the club .

A kick off straight to touch from the restart handed Midland possession back immediately and they took full advantage , Matt Welham finding space out on the right and Steads conversion brought the score to 12-16 in favour of the Hurricanes .

That was further increased when Stead adding a penalty goal after a late Orrell Hit .

What had been a tough but reasonably good tempered game exploded as ten minutes of madness saw three sin-binnings and three red cards . Hurricanes Prop Moran was first to the showers showed red for dissent . A dump tackle on Matt Welham saw the sin binning of Wilde and Williams and reduce the home side to 11 .Parity in numbers  was restored  when the otherwise impressive Jack Dawson received yellow for retaliation for Canes .

Both sides were further reduced to ten player with five minutes to the final whistle , Flanagan red for a late hit on Wilson , swiftly followed by Orrells Williams after punches were thrown in the melee that followed.

In the midst of the madness , it was the cool head of Dan Coates who sealed the Hurricanes victory with a smart drop goal two mins from time and sees Richard Squires charges into the hat on Wednesday Evening (15th ) got the Challenge Cup fourth round draw .

Hurricanes .Hill, Dunne, M.Welham, Hallett, Gilbey, Stead, Coates, Moran, Windley, Bailey, Flanagan, L.Welham, Dawson

Subs Cullimore, Mudoti, Beer, Willis

Tries -Dunne, Hil ,M.Welham

Goals- Stead 3/4

Drop - Goal Coates

Hurricanes MOM (selected by League Express ) - Nathan Hill