The Goldthorpe Cup - Winners
Bramley C of E School Season 1991-92
Bramley 20 - 4 Holt Park.
After a last-minute victory in their semi-final against Hunslet C of E, Holt Park faced an undefeated Bramley C of E side. Holt Park gave a confident display from the start in the decider with hookers David Campbell, in the first half, and Jamie Wood, in the second, gaining a good supply of the ball. The first try though went to Bramley prop Tony Green, who scored near the corner following some fine approach work. The rest of the first half, however, belonged to Holt Park who played some excellent attacking rugby as well as tackling well in defence. Half-backs Thomas Pilling and Richard Lye did a faultless job in getting the ball moving wide and there was some particularly tricky running by centre Richard Lewis, who also tackled well. The experienced Bramley side also gave an excellent defensive display, particularly in their own 22. They stopped second rower Fraser Holmes at the corner following a superb blind-side break; a perfect tackle by their full back William Bullock prevented a certain try by Dylan Porter, and they managed to hold dangerous centre Carl Langton, who lost the ball in the tackle as he stretched out for the line. The try that Holt Park deserved came to their outstanding loose forward Harpal Sohanpaul and the score was 4-4 at the interval.
Bramley backs Stuart McGill and Robert Morris were dangerous in attack at the start of the second half, but it was loose forward Lee Taylor who gave them the start with an early try – McGill added the goal for a 10-4 lead. Minutes later Taylor was making a vital contribution at the other end of the field when he hauled down Holt Park’s hard-working winger Anthony Calvert after a thrilling interception. Both sides continued to play some excellent rugby in a fine competitive spirit, all of which must have impressed senior referee John Holdsworth. Holt Park threw all they could at Bramley, in an effort to get a crucial second try, but Bramley soaked up all the pressure and in the last five minutes their county forward, Taylor, went over for two tries to complete his hat-trick and McGill kicked a second goal.
The result ensures that this Bramley side will be remembered as one of the outstanding school sides of recent years, but the margin does not reflect the fact that they were made to battle all the way by Holt Park, who belied their lowly league position to turn in their best team performance in four years together. As the last Middle School Cup Final before re-organisation, this was certainly a memorable match.
Holt Park team: Jamie Barker; Chris Pearson, Carl Langton, Richard Lewis, Anthony Calvert; Richard Lye, Thomas Pilling; Dylan Porter, David Campbell, Mark Leaf, Graham Potts, Fraser Holmes, Harpal Sohanpaul. David Royal, Alastair Brodlie, Thomas Hadley, Jamie Wood, Matthew Cook, Daniel Chappelow, Matthew Mallinder, Chris Nott.
Thanks to Stephen Boothroyd for this information.
