Rishworthians pay the penalty

Their task became even harder when they lost half their starting pack and although they came back strongly at the end it was too little too late.

They lost flanker Harvey Keighley-Payne with an ankle injury, closely followed by No 8 James Clarke, who went off with a hamstring injury after an outstanding 30 minutes.

Rishworthians then had a 10-minute spell without Nick Faulkner and finally Gerard Rollings and a Moortown player were both red-carded after a fracas.

It all made the Rishworthian task harder, especially after a bright start when they romped into a six-point lead with two Josh Kelly penalties.

Clarke made a fine break, well supported by fullback Liam Phillips, before Rishworthians gave away a series of penalties, which saw them pushed back to their own line, allowing the visitors to score an unconverted try from a catch and drive.

Clarke made another fine break before having to go off shortly after his team had lost Keighley-Payne.

With Faulkner in the bin they gave away more penalties and had to defend their line again, stopping two catch and drive efforts before the visitors got the ball wide for a converted try. A penalty made it 6-15 at the break.

Moortown took advantage of Rishworthians’ player shortage early in the second half, forcing their way over for another unconverted try with some strong forward play.

Restored to full complement, the Copley men came back strongly and camped on the visitors line, but were unable to break through and Moortown brought the ball upfield.

Eventually in-form home left winger Rhys Town beat his man and took play deep into the visitors half.

He was well supported by Faulkner before right wing Lee Atkinson almost got in at the corner but slipped the ball to player-coach Chris Stone to score. Kelly converted.

Moortown then put in the killer blow, stemming from a fine break in the centre. A long pass, which the home side claimed was forward, found the right wing in space and he scored a bonus point try in the corner.

Rishworthians ended the game strongly. Town took them forward again with another fine run. The ball was twice knocked on with the line beckoning until Faulkner drove over from a quickly-taken penalty. Kelly converted.