Rangers in 11-try cup success

WE WON! Saddleworth Rangers celebrate their cup triumph.

SADDLEWORTH Rangers picked up the O’Rourke Glass Standard Cup trophy for the second time in three years, blowing away brave Higginshaw with a 54-6 victory.

Rangers, whose second team operate in the division above Higginshaw in the North-West Counties League structure, simply had too much pace and power for their opponents in a game played out at the Manor Park home of Oldham RUFC.

Adam Walker scored a late hat-trick of tries for Saddleworth, who never looked back after scoring three tries in the opening quarter-hour.

Rangers stand-off Michael Coates, whose intelligent kicking game came to the fore as the game wore on, picked up the Ben Powell Memorial Trophy as the game’s man-of-the-match.

“We were beaten fair and square,” said Higginshaw coach Aidy Brown, who praised the efforts of Carl Fields and Michael Cadd. “They were by far the superior team and played the game a lot quicker than we are used to.

“They wore us down by the end, but I was proud of the efforts of our lads.”

Higginshaw opened the scoring when Jonathan Fullalove kicked a penalty, but Rangers stormed back to run home three tries through Ethan Langhorn (two) and Danny Earley, Michael Coates converting once for a 14-2 lead.

Two minutes before half-time, Saddleworth kept the ball alive well to enable Danny Lowe to surge home in the left corner.

Rangers continued to exert pressure after half-time and Emerson Jackman got on the end of a flowing move with Michale Coates adding the goal.

Underdogs Higginshaw, well supported by the majority of the 671 crowd, finally scored a try their efforts deserved when Fullalove got on the end of a kick into the in-goal.

But Rangers ran away with the game against tired opposition in the final quarter, in which time Higginshaw’s Carl Fields was sent off and Rangers’ James Whaley sin-binned for their roles in a melee.

Walker’s hat-trick was accompanied by tries for Michael Coates and Josh Brown (two), with Chris Conway kicking three conversions.

Higginshaw: Ward; Duffy, Walsh, Perry, Stubbs; Fullalove, O’Donnell; Corbally, Horabin, Cadd, Foote, Fields, Sweeney. Subs: Richards, Dunn, Tomlin, Armstrong.

Try: Fullalove. Goal: Fullalove.

Saddleworth: Nield; Brown, Langhorn, Whaley, Lowe; M Coates, Kirwan; Conway, L Coates, Blandford, Walker, Earley, Jackman. Subs: Dransfield, Wood, Brennan, Atherton.

Tries: Langhorn 2, Earley, Lowe, Jackman, M Coates, Brown 2, Walker 3. Goals: M Coates 2, Conway 3.

Referee: Richard Cowling

Attendance: 671