Guiseley Rangers U12s 16 East Leeds U12s 10

GUISELEY Rangers' Under-12 rugby league side pulled off a shock success in their Challenge Cup final on a sun-baked Saturday at Featherstone’s LD Nutrition Stadium.

They faced a dominant East Leeds side, who are top of Yorkshire Division One, and have gone unbeaten in four years of competition.

Meanwhile, Guiseley play in the division below and surrounded by rugby union giants such as Otley, Yarnbury and Ilkley, they struggle to attract players and were playing from a converted garage as recently as 15 months ago.

Rangers started well here, though, in a raucous atmosphere, and won the early physical battles before opening the scoring. Centre Lloyd McEwan-Peters set off on one of his trademark runs, beating the East Leeds defence.

He avoided the cover tackle and managed to get the try beneath the posts. Fergus McCormack duly stepped up and added the easy two as Guiseley led 6-0.

As the first half wore on, Guiseley were looking increasingly tired. A well-worked move from East Leeds saw their big front row coming back on an inside ball and missed tackles allowed a simple converted try.

The Division One side now had their tails up and after receiving the ball 10 metres out, the acting half dummied, before passing left for the East Leeds winger to touch down in the corner.

The conversion hit the upright though, and the teams reached the interval with the favourites 10-6 in front.

Evan Reyner and Campbell McNeil were struggling with injury but substitutions kept the Division Two side fresh. Their half back trio of Cameron Peel, Billy Smith and McCormack were working well together to help create space.

Guiseley's forwards were attracting more and more East Leeds players, which left gaps out wide. They moved the ball from left to right before McEwan-Peters found the gap and set off, beating his man.

The Guiseley captain and the full back matched each other step for step in the ensuing foot race until Lloyd eventually ran clear for a 70m try under the posts. That was converted by McCormack for a 12-10 lead.

East Leeds desperately tried to make the decisive break to regain the lead but could not find it, and forcing the pass meant errors were bound to creep in.

One such mistake led to a Guiseley scrum 20m from their own line. The ball was passed down the line to flying winger Callum Hyland-Dugbo, who raced clear and beat his opposite number.

An excellent cover tackle from the East Leeds full back brought him down on the halfway line but further great runs put Guiseley to within 10 metres.

The ball was spun effortlessly down the line to find Hyland-Dugbo back on his wing to score in the corner. The conversion came agonisingly close to sealing the game for Guiseley but missed. 16-10 to Rangers.

East Leeds threw everything they had at their opponents in the final two minutes, looking for the converted try that would take it to extra time, but Guiseley held firm to ensure a jubilant full squad pitch invasion at full-time.

Guiseley now need two wins from the last four games after the summer break to secure what would be a historic league and cup double. No Division Two side has ever achieved this feat before.

Squad: Dale Flowers, George Bayfield, Jacob Butler-Brown, Brody Duckmanton, Rufus Halliday, Billy Smith, Cameron Peel, Fergus McCormack, Alex Gillson, Lloyd McEwan-Peters, Campbell McNeil, Callum Hyland-Dugbo, Evan Reyner

Substitutes: Henry Barton, Sam Batty, Ben Butterfield, Corey Cowan, Jack Dean, Reece Hardy, Alfie McNicholas, Dan Mitchell, Elliot Peart, Oliver Riley, Evan, Fisk, Ilya Seyfouri, Matthew Sugars