Newsome Panthers’ coach Richie Hawkyard had mixed emotions following his side’s historic Yorkshire Cup win last weekend.
On one hand he was delighted that his team picked up the trophy against Keighley Albion. However, on the other, he was gutted to see two players go off the field with broken ankles as the Panthers’ injury list worsens.
Newsome breezed past Keighley, beating them comfortably 40-4 on the day at Featherstone Rovers’ Millennium Stadium. It’s the first time in over two decades a team from Huddersfield has won the cup.
Hawkyard was impressed with his team’s dominant display and said: “I thought we played really well and deserved the win. There were some great performances out there on the pitch.
“The lads really focused on the task in hand and went out there and completed it. The most impressive thing about our performance was our defence, especially coming off the back of a defeat to Fryston.
“They only scored one try in the end and caught us out on the edge. Apart from that, we defended very well. While it was a comfortable victory, Keighley kept going.
“Matthew Shufflebotham did well on the wing for us scoring four tries, and both centres played well for us too in Nathan Chappell and Matteo Di Maio Zaffino. They were inventive in their roles and tried to create chances. Everyone played their part, though, and I was pleased with everyone.”
The celebrations were muted somewhat with the loss of James Hartley and James Wallace, who both suffered broken ankles, and injuries to two other players.
Hawkyard added: “The final was bittersweet for me as we picked up a load more injuries, two of them being serious and meaning they’ll be out a number of weeks. It doesn’t just rain with injuries, it pours. I was gutted for the lads that had to come off but hopefully they can come back stronger.”
The Panthers have five games remaining and are still on course to be the first Huddersfield side in more than three decades to win the Premier division. Their next game is away to King Cross on Saturday July 22 (2.30pm ko).
