Swinton Lions 23, Bramley 8

SWINTON finally got off the mark at the third attempt with victory over a dour Bramley side at Gigg Lane on Sunday.

Although there will be relief all round that the Lions managed a win, the quality of the play from both sides was as gloomy as the weather.

The Lions opened the scoring with an Ian Watson penalty goal after Bramley were caught offside in front of their own posts.

Mike Ford, the Bramley player-coach, tested the Lions defence with some neat high kicks close to the try-line but this seemed to be the only move the visitors had.

Anthony Gibbons levelled the scores at 2-2 with a ninth minute penalty after Ian Blease was pulled up for a high tackle. From the restart Bramley knocked-on in their own quarter but the Lions failed to capitalise.

After 15 minutes Carl McCabe had a try disallowed for a knock-on which seemed to be a harsh decision but then compounded things by disputing the fact with the referee and gave a penalty away.

In fact the game was littered with penalties and handling mistakes and it wasn't helped by a referee who liked the sound of his whistle! Watson and Anthony Gibbons traded penalties once more to bring the score up to 4-4. The first try came after 32 minutes when Damian Cleary looped round the outside of the Bramley defence and outpaced the defenders in the race to the corner. Watson missed the conversion and the tit-for-tat scoring continued.

Five minutes from the break Anthony Gibbons crossed for the visitors' only try as Howard Hill and Gavin Price-Jones collided trying to effect the tackle.

McCabe made amends with a try from close range as the Lions hit back from the restart after Bramley had knocked-on.

Watson's conversion gave the half-time scoreline a lopsided look at 14-8 for Swinton.

The second half opened with both teams showing more urgency but it didn't stop the handling mistakes.

Watson extended the lead to 16-8 with a penalty goal after Bramley were pulled up for holding down in a tackle, then Price-Jones had a try disallowed for a double movement after a great break by Cleary.

In the meantime Ford kept trying his high kicks across the line but they trouble the Lions less and less.

Just short of the hour Steve Gartland came off the bench to replace Watson and within two minutes he had landed a drop goal to take the score to 17-8.

Another Cleary move was spoiled when he sent a long pass straight into touch but the young half-back then combined with Mark Welsby to set up another Lions attack which saw Bramley full-back Andy Poynter having to boot the ball dead.

From the goalline drop-out the Lions created a try for prop Cliff Eccles who was later named man-of-the-match.

Gartland's conversion brought up the final score and the last ten minutes fizzled out on an afternoon which was eminently forgettable!

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