Newsome Panthers could make it two cup wins from two on Wednesday night as they take on Almondbury Spartans in the Holliday Cup.
The Panthers have already collected one bit of silverware as they won the Yorkshire Men’s Rugby league Trophy a few weeks ago. However they now want to be crowned the champions of Huddersfield by winning on Wednesday.
The Holliday Cup is only entered by Huddersfield teams and both Almondbury and Newsome will go toe to toe on Wednesday night at Huddersfield YMCA’s ground to be crowned the best team in the town.
Head coach Ritchie Hawkyard is confident in his team to get the win despite being underdogs.
He said: “The Holliday Cup is a big competition for us, it’s what all Huddersfield-based teams want to win and we are no different.
“It will be the best team we have faced for two years for sure. They are a Premiership standard side. We will be real underdogs for the game. They are expected to win, they are coming into it full of confidence. That takes the pressure off of us a little but we’ll be going to win the cup for sure. These are the teams we want to play in the league.
“Almondbury play in the division above currently and lost recently in the Yorkshire Men’s Rugby League Cup competition to Doncaster Toll Bar. So they will be smarting from that defeat and will want to beat us on Wednesday.”
The Panthers picked up the Yorkshire Men’s Trophy earlier this month when they beat Ossett Tigers in the final. Ossett were winning going into the final minute of the match but a try by Elliott Mcguire meant the Panthers beat the Tigers to win the game 20-16 in dramatic circumstances.
On the winning moment Hawkyard said: “In the last minute we had a chance to win it and we took it and that is all credit to the lads as they kept going right to the final whistle. It was a good move and one we had been working on and it came off for us.”
Reflecting back on the team’s display he added: “We didn’t play well all game and left our worst performance of the season until the final. The lads dug in and got the win and in knockout rugby you aren’t bothered how they come as long as you win at the end.
“I always thought we’d win but we never really completed sets properly. We were playing in the wrong areas and not getting near their try line. However when we did get there we seemed to score every time.
“It was a great day for the club and one we enjoyed afterwards. We hope to have another cup win to celebrate on Wednesday night.”
