West Hull v Egremont Rangers

Rugby League

National Conference League

Premier Division

Saturday 15th June 2024

Kick Off 14.30 Actual 14.33

West Hull 42 Egremont Rangers 20, attendance 80

@ Johnny Whiteley Park

North Road

Gipsyville

Kingston upon Hull

HU4 6JP

£3 Admission

No Programme.

The five mile drive south east from my morning game took around thirteen minutes. On arrival, you enter the car park from North Road, with the social club right in front of you. Entry to the ground was through a gate, leading to a second car park area, where you paid your admission. There are three parallel pitches, running lengthways away from the entrance, with the main pitch being the nearest, with a floodlit training pitch next to it, with another pitch beyond. There is a small covered area, which also houses a tea bar, behind the near goal end, with the pitch railed on three sides (open at the far end) and a dugout on each side. Along the left touchline there are a couple of sections of open seating, which were of little use today with it raining for almost the entire match.

The game saw 2nd in the league table hosting 7th (out of 12) and although West Hull won comfortably in the end, it was very well contested throughout. The host opened the scoring, with the added conversion making it 6-0, but Egremont hit back with a try of their own to make it 6-4. Three tries in quick succession saw West Hull increase their lead to 24-4. Egremont reduced the lead to 24-10, but a try right on halftime saw West Hull lead 30-10 at halftime and five minutes into the second half they stretched their lead to 36-10, before another converted try made it 42-10 and it was game over. Egremont did score the last two tries of the afternoon, converting one, bringing the score back to 42-20, but it was too little, too late.

The journey home was much better than when heading north yesterday and took under four hours door to door, with no problems, taking me home via the Humber Bridge, A1, M11 and M25.

Cottingham Tigers v East Hull

Rugby League

Yorkshire League

Hull Division

Saturday 15th June 2024

Kick Off 11.00 Actual 11.02

Cottingham Tigers 6 East Hull 84, attendance 50

@ The Roy Waudby Sports Arena

Hilltop Sports & Social Club

Willerby Court

Willerby

HU10 6EF

No Admission or Programme.

I only spotted this game just before midnight last night and as it was a drive of around ten minutes from my intended afternoon game and hardly diverting off route, then it made sense to take the game in.

The Hull Division of this league consists of just six clubs, with this being 5th versus 2nd in the league table. Cottingham Tigers have won one (deducted the points since) and lost the other two they’ve played so far, whilst East Hull have a 100% winning record from their three games. The visitors were in the National Conference League as recently as 2014, having withdrawn due to a lack of funding and shortage of players and were far too strong for Cottingham. It was a real case of ‘men against boys’ and not the sort of game you want to see, especially as a neutral.

The first try for the visitors came after just two minutes and by halftime they’d run in another six to lead 0-40. The second half was more of the same, but it was good to see Cottingham get a try of their own, which was then converted, to pull it back to 6-52 twelve minutes after the break, but it was little more than a consolation. Although they kept going right to the end, they were totally overwhelmed and when East Hull scored their final try, which was again converted, to make it 6-84, the Referee blew the final whistle, two or three minutes early, not that it made much difference to the outcome.

Home to Cottingham Tigers is the Roy Waudby Sports Arena, which hosts rugby, football and cricket. The rugby pitch is in the far left hand corner when looking from the entrance, with the pitch running lengthways. It is railed on each side, with the far goal end tight to the hedge and has a dugout opposite each other at the halfway line.