» April 29th 2001
» Town 22 : 16 Dewsbury Rams

A superb team effort from Town moved them into the top six (joint 4th position) of the NFP. The win moved them onto the same points as the hosts and gave their play-off hopes a major boost.

Jonathan Heaney had been a late withdrawal from the squad after suffering a bad asthma attack and Graeme Lewthwaite was also unavailable for a long-booked break in Ireland. Fata Sini and Craig Fisher were drafted into the starting line-up to replace the missing wingers.

Tane Manihera was to be, once again, the man who engineered another Town victory. His creativity and skills with kicks, passes and clever running caused the Dewsbury defence all sorts of problems. Hitro Okesene also stood out with some powerful running.

The tackling effort from all the team provided the foundations for a hard fought, well deserved win. Gary Murdock later described it as the best away performance during his time in charge at Derwent Park.

It was Manihera who gave Town the early lead. He elected to kick for goal with a 7th minute penalty close to halfway. The kick floated between the posts from 45 metres. These long-range kicks have become a bit of a speciality of his.

Both sides played some attractive rugby and showed great defensive skills. The Town tackling stood out as they kept the home team at bay. Manihera's kicking kept Dewsbury pinned in their own half.

Dewsbury used the ball well and the kicking game to clear their lines. Craig Fisher seemed to the constant target, but he was able to collect all the kicks and never dropped one all day.

Dewsbury drew level in the 27th minute after they were awarded a penalty for holding down. Barry Eaton slotted over the kick from close range.

Town scored the first try of the day after 35 minutes. Pressure forced the home side to drop-out from under the posts after Richard Baker was caught behind the line following a clever kick through from Manihera. Owen Williamson continued with the attack. When the ball came to Manihera he ran at the defensive line and released the supporting Lee Allen who burst through the gap and on to score under the posts. Manihera added the conversion to put Town into a 2 - 8 lead.

Another Dewsbury penalty at 36 minutes, again for interference at the play of the ball reduced the Town lead. Barry Eaton easily kicking from in front of the posts reducing the Town lead to 4 - 8.

Town extended their lead on the stoke of halftime, Manihera again creating the opportunity. Matt Sturm collected a beautiful slip pass from him and was tackled short of the line. Anthony Samuel passed to Jamie Beaumont who crashed through the tacklers to score under the posts. Manihera easily kicked the conversion to give Town a 4 - 14 halftime lead.

Once more, Town attacked the Dewsbury line. On 44 minutes a knock-on by the failing hosts on the last tackle saw the ball turned over. Town used the ball well and Owen Williamson kicked through and the hesitating defence failed to pick up the loose ball allowing Fata Sini to pick up the ball and go in to score. Tane missed the conversion attempt.

The Town pressure continued and the kicking from Manihera again turned the Dewsbury defence. The home side show some handling skills and kept the ball alive on several occasions, but the Town defence held strong and kept them out.

Manihera missed with a drop-goal attempt after good work from his team put him into a good position after 53 minutes.

On 55 minutes Lynton Stott collected a kick through and he quickly turned defence into attack. Lokeni Savelio took the ball deep in his own half and burst through the line and his perfectly timed pass to the supporting Kevin Hetherington allowed the winger to run from halfway to score. Manihera was again unsuccessful with the conversion.

Dewsbury needed to get back into the game. They enjoyed their best spell of the game and after 57 minutes Richard Pachniuk forced his way over the Town line from close range to score close to the posts. Barry Eaton kicked the conversion, reducing the Town lead to 10 - 22.

This lead was further reduced at 61 minutes. Some excellent handling from Dewsbury saw the ball swung along the line and Adrian Flynn was able to go in at the corner. Barry Eaton's touchline conversion went in off the post.

The last 19 minutes had both sides trying to create the gaps and the use of the kicking game again was the order of the day. Manihera and Hetherington both missed with drop-goal attempts and Hitro Okesene thought he had scored only for referee Steve Presley to pull back the play for an earlier infringement.

Hitro Okesene then showed his defensive abilities when on 72 minutes he was in the Town in-goal area and a kick through from Barry Eaton was knocked out of play by the powerful prop.

Town held on showed great defensive qualities to keep out the Dewsbury attack. To the relief of the Town faithful the final hooter sounded and Town had secured a 16 - 22 victory.

Teams
Town: Lynton Stott, Craig Fisher, Neil Frazer, Kevin Hetherington, Fata Sini, Tane Manihera, Lee Allen, Matthew Tunstall, Owen Williamson, Hitro Okesene, Jamie Beaumont, Matt Sturm, Anthony Samuel
Subs: Jamie Nixon, Lokeni Savelio, Stuart Hoyles, Paul Bell

Dewsbury: Nathan Graham, Richard Baker, Dan Potter, Kevin Crouthers, Adrian Flynn, David Mycoe, Barry Eaton, Robin Jowitt, Richard Pachniuk, Ryan McDonald, Andrew Spink, Paul Smith, Kevin Spink
Subs: Mark Cain, Liam Tallon, Andy Fisher, Simon Hicks

Attendance: 736

Referee: Steve Presley