A glorious afternoon greeted the players and sizable crowd at Burnaby Road and with an excellent playing surface it was set to be a great afternoon of quality Rugby League.
The game got underway in bright sunlight and a light breeze across the field with the visitors kicking off. The predictable big hits early on came in from Crusaders who were penalized for one such it. This gave the RN a great platform and so it proved to be, from midfield the ball went out to the left, Prop Dave Brown coming close. The second phase though proved more successful, hooker Tyler Leighton fed skipper Brodie Butler, taking the ball at pace the skipper was not to be stopped, despite the strong defence it was try time. The ever-reliable Ben Chambers slotted over the conversion and the Brothers were up on the scoreboard 6:0. Despite a lot of graft the score remained at 6:0 for another 15 minutes or so until the visitors got their first score. After some concerted pressure Adam Saunders beat the RN cover for the try out wide, the conversion was missed so it was 6:4 going into the second quarter. Despite massive efforts on both sides the final break did not come although RNRL did come close in the dying moments of the half. Good lateral movement from the scrum 20 mtrs out from the Thatto line saw Leighton find full back Chambers who rounded the Thatto defence to TD out wide however the Ref chalked the score off as Chambers had crossed behind his own player to get the advantage, no try. So that was it, a compelling contest between two sides giving there all for the 3rd round place, RN 6:4 Thatto Heath.

The second half began with the RN kicking off with the sun low in the sky behind them only to succumb to what can only be described as a blitz by the visitors who amassed 28 points in less than 20 minutes to see the game turned on its head. A good build up saw the Crusaders strike with barely a minute on the clock, David Pike shrugging off the defence to score, McGahan converted 8:10. That score opened the flood gates for Thatto, trys for Hunt, Hesketh, a second for Pike and one for Holroyd plus a further three conversions for McGahan moved their score to 32 at the hour mark. The RN problems were compounded when they were reduced to 12 men for a yellow card, Morton-Morgan off for 10 minutes. It could be argued that Thatto took their foot off the gas being so far ahead but all credit to the Brothers who rallied themselves under skipper Brodie Butler to score a further three try’s of their own in the last quarter. After being starved of possession for over 20 minutes the Brothers came alive and a classic ‘up and under’ from diminutive hooker Tyler Leighton was fumbled by the Thatto defence, RN regained the ball which was flicked to Rhys Joel who crossed to the delight of hi steam and the supporters in the stand. Ben Chambers closed the gap even more with a superb conversion, his most difficult of the game and it was now 12:32. The rally continued after some hard work in defence was turned into offence RN were on the half way line Rhys Joel taking the ball to the tiring Thatto defence and feeding Jack Ray who broke the tackle to sprint 35 metres to the line leaving the cover in his wake, just rewards for the experienced loose forward who had a great game throughout. Another simple conversion for Chambers brought the scores closer still at 18:32. It was a massive ask for the RN to law back a 26-point deficit but they continued to hammer away and once again the efforts were rewarded. A break on the RN right was held up but from the play the ball good Navy hands got the ball into midfield and Centre Jack Bartlett rounded of the move from 10 metres touching down under the posts. Ben Chambers conversion was good and it proved to be the last action of the match, Ref Henry Winnard blowing his whistle for full time, 24:32

Lots of positives from the match notably the spirit shown from all areas of the squad when facing down a heavy defeat. Brodie Lee Butler looking strong in his role as captain whilst Tyler Leighton got almost a full 80 minutes at hooker, his efforts earning him the man of the match award.
An emotional head coach Darren Bamford praised his players for their spirit and closeness as a squad as he looks forward to taking the Brothers to Australia in April for a three match tour in the Sydney area.

Full match footage at
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IHF3jI2HpZc&t=1102s

Highlights At
https://https://www.facebook.com/photo?fbid=404194442266576&set=a.170636438955712

The Brothers:- Ben Chambers, Joey Sugden, Jack Bartlett, Gavin Duffy, Kini Dakuliga, Charlie Mattison, Rhys Joel, Louis McKenna, Tyler Leighton, Dave Brown (v/c), Brodie Lee Butler (C), Eden Quantock, Jack Ray, Joe O’Hanlon, Jack Broxton, Ben Conner, Charlie Morton-Morgan
Scorers: T - Butler, Joel, Ray, Bartlett
G – Chambers 4(Cons)

Thatto Heath: – Dan McGahan, Jacob Brown, Adam Saunders (v/c), David Pike (v/c), Ellis Keppel, Connor Dutton, Ryan Houghton, Max Dudley, Lewis Foster, Adam Hesketh, Jamie Holroyd, Jamie Tracey (C), Andy Lea, Paul Hunt, Oliver McMahon, Lewis Stewart, Louis Pauls

Scorers: T- Pike (2), Saunders, Hesketh, Holroyd, Hunt
G- McGahan 4 (Cons)