DEWSBURY RAMS CHARGE HOME

DEWSBURY RAMS 28 SHEFFIELD EAGLES 18
KINGSTONE PRESS CHAMPIONSHIP AT TETLEYS STADIUM
23 JULY 2017 --- 3PM

TETLEYS STADIUM DEWSBURY RAMS RLFC

Dewsbury finished the regular season in eighth place thanks to this, at times, testing win over the Sheffield Eagles who had lead 12-10 at half time.  But a second half performance of grit and character non more so than when the Rams were a man down sin binned for the final 10 minutes.
Once again the showery rain forecast finally put me off a cricket fixture and the rain and transport experience would add to this day.  The arrival at base station was by a late bus which had me worrying about the connecting train to Wakefield Kirkgate, my normally preferred choice of arrival in Wakefield even though the station is renovated there are still no toilets and the whole area outside is still a major work in progress that at last shows some 'work in progress' but not much.  Its a very poor first impression of Wakefield and I guess once the area is regenerated it will be better but it seems to be taking a very long time.

THE SMART NORTH STAND AT DEWSBURY

Arriva day ticket purchased the short walk to Westgate had seen me board the 268a towards Cleckheaton being on time I opted to travel into Dewsbury bus station for a further connection to the ground rather than hop off at Gawthorpe and walk the 10 minutes to The Tetley's Stadium.  Utilisation of the day ticket saw the 202 take me on the climb out of Dewsbury passing by the site of the former Crossflats ground.  Having alighted at Shaw Cross Industrial Estate the ground is in sight.

LARGE TERRACING OFFERING A COMMANDING VIEW

The banking from the road side offers a nice view of this smart modern stadium and I wont re describe to much as it was covered in July 2015 since then a nice 4g rugby pitch has been added adjacent to the ground.  Everything else seems pretty much the same with a good public address system and the large open waggon food van which served an excellent chip cob, its a nice atmosphere and ground to watch some rugby.

ROGER RAM ALWAYS UP FOR A PHOTO OP

Early greetings were friendly and never one to miss a photo opportunity I managed to collar Roger Ram the mascot who I have to say always comes over as one of the better sporting mascots.  This would be the last game of the regular season before the league splits and Dewsbury go into the super 8's a procedure that is probably not for the 'old uns' but does seem to create an interest until the end of the season much like The welsh Premier League in football.

A CLEAR AND VISABLE SCOREBOARD WHAT MORE CAN YOU WANT

As the atmosphere came to a peak in this crowd of 794 the teams appeared and believe me Yorkshire lads and lasses can make their presences felt when you've got old lasses shouting 'leg him e cant run wiout em' for the whole 80 minutes and hurling derision at referee Straw over most of his decisions this afternoon, although he didn't appear to help himself at times.

WARM UP FOR ROBBIE WARD DEWSBURY RAMS

Dewsbury started strongly and Josh Guzdeck went over with a conversion from Paul Sykes taking maximum points.  The home side were on top but disappointingly they allowed Gary Lo to go over the whitewash but with no conversion the home side held a 2 point lead extended to 4 with a penalty goal from James Glover,  during this section of play Sykes was sin binned the first of 2 yellows for Dewsbury.

NO WAY THROUGH FOR THE EAGLES

A second try for Lo on 28 minutes and up and under found no Dewsbury player fancying it and Lo collected well to dive over to level at 8 all.  A second penalty goal from Glover saw Rams edge ahead again before Sheffield took a 12-10 half time lead with a Menzie Yere try.

TOBY EVERETT IS HELD UP ON HIS PROGRESSION TO THE LINE

An increased tempo saw Dewsbury take a lead again in this game on 49 minutes with an exciting try in the far right corner with Lucas Walshaw diving for he line and Sykes converted wonderfully from the wide.  From excitement to the sublime a audacious dummy that even I fell for 50 yards away on the terracing allowed Dom Speakman to pass through the Eagles defence and Sykes did the necessary to make it 22-12. 
The second sin bin for the home side came when Jode Sheriffe saw yellow and Dewsbury would have to play out a man down.  They dug in and defended their own 10 metre line with real determination as Sheffield tried to break through first one way then the other.   During this passage of play though there was a superb breakaway sprint between Gareth Potts and 2 Sheffield defenders from his own 10 metre and frustratingly he was caught at the Sheffield 10.  Defend they did though and with 5 minutes remaining Glover dove over for Sykes to convert and put the game beyond the visitors.  More or less immediately Sheffield replied with a Reme Marginet try converted by Jack Owens to see the score finish 28-18 at the hooter.

TWO WAY RESPECT HERE

Always a pleasure to catch some rugby league and Rams coming from behind at half time to win with a man down in the latter stages made for an exciting game with a couple of lovely tries from Walshaw and Speakman to add to the day.
The dark clouds were gathering and with the 10 minute walk to Gawthorpe to catch the 5.15 service back to Wakefield the clouds burst heavily after 5 minutes of shielding under some trees with fellow spectators the downpour lessened and time was calling as well as a bus or so I thought.  Having made it to the stop with 5 minutes to spare of course there was no shelter and 2 more short downpours later I was slightly wet.  To add further frustrations the 268a decided not to turn up and after 20 minutes I made a short walk to a nearby stop to pop aboard a 127 that would travel back to Wakefield the long way through Ossett and Horbury.  The decision was taken to depart at Westgate and board the X Country express service to Plymouth, thankfully with the famous station newsagent chain open there was time for a hoppers delight of 2 bars of chocolate, crisps and pop coming in at just short of a fiver!
On a day of transport delays the service back to base was slumbered its way to Rotherham before stopping and then again south of Sheffield it meandered into base station just short of 15 minutes down.
Once again a good day watching rugby league the crowd today were very encouraging for Dewsbury Rams and generated much support for the home side and at the end acknowledgment from the Rams players showed their appreciation for being the extra player on the terraces.