A brace of tries from Kev Hawkyard helped Huddersfield RL Masters kick off their season against tough opponents Siddal.
Masters rugby is for over-35s and is played just for fun. Even though tries are scored and there is a winner the game always ends in a 0-0 draw.
With two teams of elder statesmen playing 35 minutes each way on one of the hottest days of the year so far, it was always going to be hard work.
Huddersfield were organised and conserved energy by letting the ball do the work with simple rugby and completing their sets to a kick.
Huddersfield were playing downhill in the first half which saw plenty of good work from the engine room (forwards) with Andrew ‘Spike’ McGuire leading from the front backed up by Damon Scholes and Kev Hawkyard.
Siddal kept threatening to break the Huddersfield defensive line but were stopped in the tracks. Soon Huddersfield threatened the Siddal defence and some great hands saw Kev Hawkyard latch onto a perfectly timed pass and found himself scoring the first try.
Siddal then slid through a gap themselves and were away and looked certain to level the game. However the Huddersfield forwards never gave in and stopped the Siddal player just short of the line.
Half-time was welcomed so all the players could get a well deserved bottle of water and share a joke with the 30 or so supporters.
Siddal kicked off the second half, but it was Huddersfield who were playing with confidence playing uphill. The home side soon took control and were camping in the Siddal half of the pitch.
Dummy half Tim Jones was having a superb game. He was involved when Huddersfield nearly scored again when a sweeping move to the left corner almost saw full-back Matt Oldfield dance his way over but was caught short of the line.
A quick pass from Jones and a drop off from the halves gave Damon Scholes the perfect ball to get through a gap as he scored Huddersfield’s second try of the game.
The away side then had a good spell but they couldn’t make the pressure pay and Huddersfield were soon in the mood for more tries.
Kev Hawkyard flew onto a loose Siddal pass and raced away uphill to score his second of the game.
The closing period of the match saw some great hands from the older generation that just showed there is still life in the old dogs yet, and some slick hands from newbie Huddersfield player Andrew Livingstone. He has never played in a contact game before but pulled off the pass of the game with a overhand slam dunk style pass that found Tim Jones who attacked the Siddal defence. He slipped the ball to another newbie Matt Child who scored the last try.
Both Andrew ‘Spike’ McGuire and Kev Hawkyard were chosen as joint Man of the Match.
Huddersfield Masters next game will be away at Stanley Rangers on June 13 (2pm).
