Dewsbury Rams Vs Midlands Hurricanes match report 31/8/25
Dewsbury Rams concluded their 2025 Betfred League 1 campaign at the Flair stadium with a convincing 40-4 victory against Midlands Hurricanes, the Rams will be confident of hoping to secure 4th in the table over Rochdale next Sunday as they look to achieve their target of fourth place despite the amalgamation of the Championship and League 1 sides.
It was an emotional day as Matt Garside who finished his rugby league career as captain for the Rams, Garside has featured over the years for York, Sheffield Eagles, Gateshead Thunder, London Broncos, Bradford Bulls and Halifax making over 250 appearance’s and will now join the coaching staff at the Flair Stadium with Paul March.
The early exchanges were nervy for both sides with both sides cancelling each other out it was not until the 12th minute when George Senior managed to get himself over the Hurricanes line to give Dewsbury the first points of the game, a melee ensued as the referee blew his whistle for a try, although Jacob Hookem converted to add the extras.
Midlands Hurricanes began to threaten the for a try of their own, Michael Wood attempted to drive himself over, but the Dewsbury defence held firm to deny any scoring opportunity.
As the first half wore on Rams pressure was beginning to pay off, although Matty Chrimes attempted a pass, which went astray, as Caelum Jordan was on hand to steal the ball and charge himself under the sticks for the Rams second try of the afternoon, Hookem once again on hand to convert.
With the Rams in full control Liam Copland almost broke himself free as he danced around the Hurricanes defence, although Ross Oakes was on hand to stop him in his tracks.
To add to the Hurricanes woes Former Dewsbury man Jake Sweeting was then penalised for a high tackle on Hookem.
Jack McShane was close to the line, had an opportunity to add further points, although the Midlands defence held firm this time.
Copland earned the Rams third try with a quick passing move and the winger himself crossed the line with veteran kicker Paul Sykes adding on the 2 points.
Just on the cusp of half time Sykes kicked the ball into touch to pin back the Hurricanes and the Rams were awarded the scrum, a quick passing move saw Senior score his second try of the match when he took the ball from Sykes ball and with a drive forward, the Hurricanes defence were once again unable to deal with the threat.
The second period started very much the opposite to the first with the Hurricanes attacking the Rams line it wasn’t long until they got their reward with their first try of the game when Sweeting played a looping pass to Cian Tyrer and he grounded the ball, although Sullivan Medforth was unable to add the extra’s.
A resurgent Hurricanes side saw the Dewsbury side struggle to break free of the Hurricanes half, but when Hookem was smacked in the head for a high tackle, and were awarded a penalty the Rams were back to they were left off the first half, Tenneson Neagle was able to score his first try as a Rams player, as Hookem played a sublime pass, to see him cross the line with defenders hanging on.
Rams skipper Matty Garside was then interchanged for potentially the last time as he came off for Dec Tomlinson.
With the Rams on the front foot a superb break from Caelum Jordan put Liam Copland through, who had run hard all afternoon, saw him score his second try of the match when once again with a wide pass and he ran across the tryline to and ground the ball under the sticks.
Delaney really put the Hurricanes to the sword as he was able to score with ease Sykes adding the extras from the conversion to complete a 40-4 rout over a team that were fancied to be in the top 2 at the start of the season.
Head coach Paul March had to say this after the proceedings, “We’ve had a couple of weeks off leading to this game, a few meetings with the forwards and the backs and we made them more accountable, and I thought they were outstanding”
Matt Garside said this after his final appearance as a rugby league player, “I’m happy with that one. We spoke a lot through the week about that game away at Midlands — they made us look amateur, and that stuck with us. So, our focus all week was to put that right, and I think the boys really delivered today.”
By Alexander Fynn
Very good observation of the game,well written. Very well done young man.