NCL Yorkshire B

Featherstone Lions opened their NCL Yorkshire B campaign with an impressive 36–0 victory away at Kippax Welfare, although the scoreline doesn’t fully reflect how hard they had to work in the opening stages.

The game began with defences firmly on top, with neither side able to break the deadlock during the early exchanges. Lions even had to cope with a 10-minute spell with 12 men when Will Smith was sin-binned for a professional foul, but the visitors defended superbly to keep Kippax scoreless.

For much of the first half chances were limited, but the Lions gradually began to gain the upper hand. Ian Jackson’s kicking game repeatedly pinned Kippax back and caused problems for the home side.

The breakthrough finally came on 31 minutes when Jake Wood powered over from close range. Jackson added the conversion to give the Lions a 6–0 lead.

The Lions extended their advantage just before half time when Jackson, Charlie Harris and Elliott Bell combined well to create space for Will Smith, who finished well in the corner. Jackson again converted to send the Lions into the break 12–0 ahead.

The second half started perfectly for the visitors. Sustained pressure paid off when a superb pass from Harris sent Smith over under the posts, allowing Jackson an easy conversion to make it 18–0.

Kippax continued to battle hard, but the Lions defence remained outstanding throughout the afternoon, refusing to give the hosts any way back into the contest.

Further pressure soon brought another try when Jackson put Jack Lloyd through from around 10 yards out, before converting his own score to extend the lead to 24–0.

With Kippax beginning to tire, the Lions added another. Charlie Harris’ grubber kick took a fortunate deflection, allowing Jon Davies to pounce near the posts. Jackson again added the extras to make it 30–0.

The final score came with just three minutes remaining, when slick hands down the line saw Smith release Brears in the corner to finish well. Jackson maintained his perfect record with the boot, converting to seal a comprehensive 36–0 victory.

There were strong performances across the team, with special mentions for , Gareth Gale, Jordy Walker and Danny Glassell, who all worked tirelessly throughout the match.

Ian Jackson was named NCL Man of the Match, while Will Smith took the Players’ Player of the Match award after a standout performance.