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Wyke fight back to win Bradford Cup Final

Wyke fight back to win Bradford Cup Final

John Rayner30 Apr 2018 - 13:50
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The black and whites came from 20-6 down to clinch the trophy for the first time in more than 40 years.

A STUNNING 80-metre interception try from wingman Cameron Foster ensured that Wyke collected the Jack Senior Memorial Bradford Cup in a nerve-jangling 26-21 victory at Odsal Stadium.
The black and whites came from 20-6 down to clinch the trophy for the first time in more than 40 years.
They struck the first blow when prop forward Johnny Fawthrop powered onto a crash ball to cross behind the posts, leaving Foster an easy conversion.
However, Wibsey established their momentum on the half-hour mark when stand-off Brad Tattersall produced a short kick over the defence to collect himself and send second-row forward Jimmy Rodger over the chalk, allowing centre Brad Wright to add on the extras for the equaliser. Warriors centre Joe Ratcliffe caught the Wyke defence napping with a dummy that opened a clear route to the corner and, with the half-time hooter rapidly approaching, they struck two major blows.
Prop forward Sam Foulds barged his way to the whitewash for a converted effort followed by a sparkling cross-field passing move that saw Ratcliffe cut inside to claim his brace, with Wright hitting the wrong side of the uprights with his conversion attempt.
Wyke had a mountain to climb being 20-6 down on the restart but the Warriors gave them a welcome hand by conceding four penalties on the trot for foul play, leading to the inescapable result of a trip to the sin bin when second row forward Alex Stephens was found accountable for a head-high tackle.
The extra man was used ruthlessly by the rejuvenated black and whites when scrum half Jordan Payton hoisted a pinpoint kick to the corner which was collected out of the ether by Foster.
He ran cheekily behind the posts to make his conversion attempt a certainty and second-row forward Ryan Kershaw made it a double whammy when he skittled two defenders from his path to crash over to allow Foster another successful addition to close the gap to 20-18.
Wibsey went back to 12 men when Rodger was shown the yellow card for unwelcome comments to the referee and Foster landed the resulting penalty to level matters 20-20.
But they looked to be on the way to a certain touchdown when they had a two-man overlap on the left flank, only to see man of the match winner Foster intercept and race away with his free hand held high in celebration for a spectacular try to which he added the kick for full reward.
The Warriors substitute Josh Chamberlane slotted over a late drop goal but Wyke responded with a catalogue of furious tackles to see out the 11 minutes of injury-time to collect the trophy that has eluded them for over four decades.

Credit - Jack Strother Telegraph & Argus

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