The Brothers were looking to bounce back from the previous weeks below par performance against the RAF whilst the Army, in their opening game, were keen to make their own claim on the IS trophy.

Errors on both sides were evident in the early stages did not lead to any scores until the 8th minute, RNRL posting the first points. From a scrum the ball went through hands across to the right before the move was halted. from the ensuing play the ball hooker Luke Baird put a up a cross-field kick from 15 out, the inch perfect kick should have been taken by the Army but James Tilley made the better challenge for the ball taking it out of the air to touch down for the try. Ben Conner’s first conversion of the day put his side 6 points to the good. The next few minutes produced few clear-cut opportunities but the Army looked to have scored following a fumble by the RN defence however the TJ signaled the Army scorer was offside from the initial kick so it remained 6:0. From the penalty RNRL advanced up the field in the set threatening the Army line again, Tilley turning provider this time, his grubber aimed at the Army in goal hit the base of the posts bouncing up kindly for Jack Ray to gather, spin and ground the ball in one movement, great score, Conner again on target 12:0 after 20 minutes. This score triggered a dominant period for the RN made easier by a succession of penalties conceded by the Army. One such penalty got the RN into the Army half and a further 6 again compounded the situation for the Army. Great hands from the right wing brought the ball into midfield 10m out, Tilley released the ball into the path of the charging Dave Brown who would not be stopped, the big prop reaching out to finish the move with the touch down. With Conner's 3rd conversion it was now a very comfortable 18:0 scoreline. The tiring Army side were conceding seemingly endless penalties which gave the RNRL even more territory and on 28 mins almost inevitably the Brothers got another score, Brodie Butler linked up with Sean McKervail on the right but the centre was held up just short however Luke Baird at dummy half aught the Army on the hop and touched down between three Army defenders. Conner was wide with his most difficult kick of the day but the Brothers were no 22:0 up going into the last 10 of the half. On the back of a RN error the Army finally had some field position which the converted into a well worked try out wide on their right, the kick was missed so going in for half time the RN were 22:4 ahead. Overall, a dominant first half for the Brothers, taking advantage of loose tired looking Army play as well as the many ‘indiscretions’ committed by the men in Red it was looking good for the dark blues, 22:4 at the break.
The first period of the second half did not produce any points but was an entertaining watch for the spectators with the Army desperate to close the gap and the RN equally keen to stop this happening. As the half rolled on it was going to take something special to break the deadlock and it was the RN who did just that. Another promising RN attack got them to the Army 30 m line and, with possibly the move of the match, James Tilley delayed and finally released a perfect pass to Gav Duffy who took the ball at full speed slicing through the Army defence, stepping the full backs despairing tackle to dive over under the posts, Conner once again knocking over the conversion, 28:4. A rare probe into RN territory and on the back of a couple of tired tackles the Army touched down wide on their left, too little too late perhaps as the game is in to the last 10 minutes 28:8. There was going to be no respite for the Army in those final 10 minutes, another sustained spell of pressure ended with Brodie Butler beating three tired Army defenders to touchdown, rounding off a very strong performance by the young 2nd Row. Ben Conner still on form with his kicking pushing the score out to 36:8. From the kick RNRL came straight back up the field thanks in no small part to a lung busting 40 m run through midfield by Prop Dave Brown. Tackled 15 out Brown had set up another wonderful attack and once more good hands took the ball across the pitch to the RN right, Danny Dainty took the final pass to touch down, unopposed, wide on the RN right, Conner making a wonderful touchline conversion to bag his 6th of the game. The final score of the game came as a result of a poor late tackle on Tilley, the ball was given to Jack Basher playing in his last game for RNRL, the former man of steel nailing the penalty 25 m out to round off the scoring, 42:8. That was it, a comprehensive demolition of the Army side who never really got going giving the RN a third Jack Harrison Trophy win since Covid.
Congratulations to Coach Bamford on his team selection, covering for injured players as well as making some clever positional changes within the 17 Brothers.
An emotional finish to his RNRL career for skipper Ben Taylor as well as Louis Mckenna and Jack Basher rounding of their RNRL careers with a crushing win over the Army

Royal Navy Rugby League

Craven Park

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