Bramley seal RLCN crown
Bramley Buffaloes won the RLCN Grand Final with a 38-22 victory over Huddersfield Underbank Rangers at Warrington’s Halliwell Jones Stadium.
The West Leeds side, superbly marshalled by man of the match Paul Drake, drew first blood when Matt Booth swivelled out of a tackle to score on three minutes. Centre Booth crossed the whitewash on two further occasions with Matt Mulholland, Sean Flynn, John Elliker and John Nicholls also touching down. Drake notched ten points himself with a penalty and four conversions.
As the sound of ‘Bramley Bramley’ echoed around the stadium Danny O’Connor and Drake lifted the trophy for the second time in the reformed community club’s short history.
“It’s been a long time coming” exclaimed Drake, “and we are going to enjoy the night. We started well, had a blip, turned too much ball over and were a bit sloppy but got back on track.
“To be voted the best player on the pitch is a massive achievement,” added Drake whose head coach Mark Butterill, in his first season at the helm, was similarly ebullient.
“This is a fantastic moment for the Amber and Black and it’s the perfect end to what has been a fantastic season,” he commented.
“It’s all fallen into place and above expectations. We’ll always score tries but defensively sometimes we do come unstuck.
“The blooded face of Chris Gardner, one of our star performers this season, was proof enough of our commitment and effort against a very well drilled and impressive Huddersfield side.
“The support today from the terraces was amazing and it shows that this club really can go places. There is so much passion involved in the Buffaloes and this is the reward for a great squad of players, officials, supporters and sponsors.
“We’ve got the bridesmaid’s tag well and truly put to rest. I’d like to think the future of Bramley is in the professional ranks but we’ll have to wait and see what happens.
“We’ve got a new nucleus of players this year and the goal was to win it. We’ve got the monkey off our back so hopefully it’s onwards and upwards for everyone involved with Bramley Rugby League,” added Mark who was recently voted the RLCN Coach of the Year.