MATCH REPORT: MIDLANDS HURRICANES 46-0 SIDDAL (CHALLENGE CUP SECOND ROUND)

The Canes celebrate Aiden Roden darting over for his first try in pink and blue (Credit: Andy Shaw)

Canes brave Storm Eowyn to comfortably dispatch Siddal

Last Sunday saw the Midlands Hurricanes host their first home game of the 2025 season as they welcomed National Conference League Premier ide Siddal ARLFC to the Alexander Stadium. Head Coach Mark Dunning had impressed in previous interviews that his boys would need to respect their opposition and put in a professional performance against the Halifax-based community side, and an eight-try win will have pleased our Head Coach no end.

Despite the cold, wet and windy playing conditions brought about by the remnants of Storm Eowyn, the Canes lived up to their name and braved the storm to open their account in the opening minutes. This strong start came from Jake Sweeting, who collected a pass and sold the dummy before squeezing through the bamboozled Siddal defence during our first set (4-0). Jake then turned his attention to the kicking tee, slotting a moderately difficult conversion from the right of the sticks with ease (6-0).

Our second of the afternoon came a little under ten minutes later, with some sustained pressure on the Siddal line paying off as young second-row Aaron Willis crashed over from short range and plonked the ball on the line despite the efforts of the Siddal defence (10-0). Once again, Jake Sweeting nailed the conversion from out wide to the left of the sticks (12-0).

The Canes almost saw themselves three scores ahead inside of twenty minutes as debutant Matty Hanley intercepted a pass on the wing before racing away down the right edge before being ankle-tapped by his opposite number just over the half-way line. Unable to capitalise on the momentum, the Canes eventually coughed up the ball and missed out on a big opportunity to take a more commanding lead.

Matty Hanley moments before being cut down by a desperate Siddal defence (Credit: Andy Shaw)

Despite an initial strong start, the wet weather and greasy conditions did have an impact on the Canes performance as five knock-ons in short succession saw the visitors enjoy their best spell of the game, including a set beginning ten metres from the Hurricanes line after Todd Horner failed to deal with a deft grubber. That said, the Canes made up for a short spell of poor handling with some strong and determined defence that forced Siddal into making handling errors of their own whilst in attack.

That strong defence was rewarded a few minutes later with our third try of the game, as Danny Barcoe took advantage of a strong attacking set to scoot from dummy half and shimmy his way through a tiring Siddal defence to score right of the posts (16-0). Sweeting was on hand once again to add the extras from the kicking tee (18-0). The last ten minutes of the game remained fairly even, with the wet and windy conditions stalling both sides momentum and all 26 men eager to get into the changing rooms to temporarily defrost.

Half-time: Midlands Hurricanes 18-0 Siddal ARLFC

Matty Chrimes never forgets where the camera is! (Credit: Matty Shaw)

The second-half started much like the first - with the Canes in total control and scoring from their first set. A high bomb from Jake Sweeting could not be dealt with by the Siddal defence under pressure from Matty Hanley, and in the ensuing melee Tom Wilkinson kicked the spilled ball forward before gathering and sliding over the try-line for our fourth of the afternoon (22-0). Jake Sweeting contributed to his own points tally from just right of the sticks moments later (24-0).

Just five minutes later another handling error would gift the Hurricanes a fifth try, with a smart grubber from Callum McLelland putting the Siddal winger under pressure and eventually leading to a dropped ball that was quickly collected by Ryan Johnson and whisked to Matty Chrimes who slid over in the left-hand corner for his 50th professional career try (28-0). Despite it being his most difficult attempt of the afternoon, a beautiful curling effort saw Sweeting’s kick sail between the posts (30-0).

Things went bad to worse for Siddal as the Hurricanes went back-to-back from the ensuing kick-off, with Danny Barcoe making a smart run from dummy-half before offloading to a rampaging Todd Horner who barrelled through a gap in the Siddal line and ran 50 metres before sliding over left of the sticks (34-0). With a relatively easy kick compared to his last, it was six from six for Mr Sweeting from the boot (36-0).

Todd Horner slides over to rub salt in the wound of his brother Adam (Credit: Andy Shaw)

Things calmed down at this point, with Siddal doing their best to restore some balance after a Canes onslaught in the first ten minutes. Those efforts were not rewarded, however, as Ellis Hobson scored his first professional try on the hour mark after taking a short ball from Danny Barcoe and barging his way over the line before dropping under the sticks (40-0). Jake Sweeting had no issues adding the extras from in front of the posts (42-0).

With a little over ten minutes to go, the Canes got their eighth and final try of the afternoon as starting hooker Aiden Roden spotted a gap in the tired Siddal defence and chose to scoot from dummy half and score his first try in Canes colours (46-0). Despite having a relatively simple conversion, Jake Sweeting was unable to maintain his 100% record from the kicking tee as his effort hit the far post and bounced out wide.

Siddal spent the final ten minutes seeking out a consolation score, but Mark Dunning will be pleased to see that his players never took their foot off the gas and contained the Halifax-based club. There was just about time for a potential ninth try for the Canes ahead of the hooter, however a scrappy pass to Ryan Johnson close to the try-line was deemed forward by the referee as Ryan slid over in the corner.

This win means that Super League will come to Birmingham for the very first time, with the Hurricanes hosting none other than Paul Rowley’s Salford Red Devils in the Third Round of the Challenge Cup on Sunday 9 February with a 2PM kick-off. Tickets for that fixture are now available for fans to buy, with Storm Card holders set to save up to £5 if they buy in advance!

Full-time: Midlands Hurricanes 46-0 Siddal ARLFC

Try-scorers:
Jake Sweeting, Aaron Willis, Danny Barcoe, Tom Wilkinson, Matty Chrimes, Todd Horner, Ellis Hobson and Aiden Roden

Conversions:
Jake Sweeting (7/8)

Man of the Match:
Todd Horner (Sponsored by Yorkshire Ceiling Services)

Scoring Sequence:
4-0, 6-0, 10-0, 12-0, 16-0, 18-0, 22-0, 24-0, 28-0, 30-0, 34-0, 36-0, 40-0, 42-0 and 46-0.