Upton 32 Batley Boys 24
Thanks to Martyn Ward for the Report
Upton progressed to the quarter final stages but were made to work hard in difficult conditions
at mount pleasant on Saturday.
Lacking the influential Steve Froggett and Skipper Frasier Winks through injury, Upton had to dig deep particularly during the closing stages of the match.
Defences were prominent in the early encounters with Dave Dunwell
Ben Spencer and Aaron Tulley prominent. It was 2 returning players though who were instrumental in breaking the deadlock as Tim Robinson used his speed down the steep slope, before being hauled down 10m short the quick restart giving Adam Hinchcliff the chance to demonstrate his guile and strength to get over under the posts Beal adding the goal. 6-0
A missed tackle by Alan Thomson then let Batley in to pull a try back 6-4
John Tracey then made a good run and did well to offload to the supporting Jon MacDermott who got Uptons second 12-4
Batley would not concede though and after Robinson was held up over the line they took advantage of some silly Upton mistakes to come the length of the field up the slope for a try 12-10
Robinson yet again made inroads carried on by Ross Johnson who returned the ball to Robinson who duly sent out an overhead pass to allow Jack Birkby an easy try 16-10.
To crown the first half scoring Ross Johnson latched on to a loose ball after a towering bomb by MacDermott, keenly contested by Liam Hobson 22-10
Half Time
It was always going to be difficult playing up the considerable slope and into a gale force wind but Upton made light of it early on as Jon MacDermott gave Jack Birkby the space to create good field position and then MacDermott supplied an inch perfect pass for his half back partner Steven Beal to dive under the posts for a well executed try 28-10.
Batley rallied once again and produced another score 28-14 but Upton produced the best passing movement of the match to send Scott Lynch flying in for a good team try in the corner 32-14
Upton both tired and relaxed at this stage thinking they had killed off a brave Batley effort but Batley hit back with 2 quick tries 32-24 to start the alarm bells racing for the Upton faithful. Upton were good enough to see off the rally however and go into the hat for the next round.
There were good performances by the consistant Dunwell, encouraging displays by Hinchcliff and Roibinson who both added a bit of zip to the team whilst Jon Macdermott took the MOM honours for what was probably his best display in a first team shirt.
Upton have been drawn at Home against either Hunslet Warriors or Dewsbury Moor in the Quarter Final of the Yorkshire Cup to be Played on Saturday 18th Of October
