Rugby League: Hopwood Hall win Colleges National Cup in dramatic fashion

Hopwood Hall Hornets Rugby Academy beat Halifax Elite Rugby Academy to the Colleges National Cup

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Hopwood Hall Hornets Rugby Academy beat Halifax Elite Rugby Academy to the Colleges National Cup in the closing moments of an action packed final at the Crown Oil Arena.

Trailing 25-22 with five seconds left, Hornets’ Cole Connolly dummied his way over the line for Hopwood to claim the win in one of the most remarkable finals to have taken place in the cup.

Hopwood started the game positively, Liam Riley opening the scoring early in the first half. Zac Hartley converted.

Halifax were next to score as they began to command more play, Titus Gwaze burst beneath the posts. Lewis Hosty converted.

Hopwood responded from the resulting kick off with eventual match-winner Cole Connolly charging over the line from range. Hartley added two..

Hopwood’s dominance ended there, as Halifax began to stifle their opponents.

Hosty provided a try before Jack Stevenson muscled his way through an ever decreasing gap in the Hopwood defence to give Halifax the lead. Hosty added the two.

Half time: Hopwood Hall 12 - 16 Halifax 

Hopwood made a perfect start to the second half, Josh Allen scoring after a superb tip-off following a kick.

Gwaze had his second four-pointer of the match after he forced his way over from a yard out. Hosty added the extras, before dotting over a penalty goal.

Hopwood were running out of time and needed to find another gear, and Guilherme Sousa provided just that off the bench as he powered through no fewer than four defenders to score under the posts.Hartley converted to rbing Hopwood within two points of Halifax with less than 10 minutes to play.

Hosty hit a drop goal to give Halifax a three point lead with under five minutes left.

With seconds to spare Connolly dummied his way over from close range, sparking manic scenes of celebration from the Hopwood players.

Hartley converted from in front of the posts to  earn Hopwood a second successive cup win.

Match winner and man-of-the-match Cole Connolly described his great pride in his team’s triumph, he said: “It was a bit of a scrappy game, but we dug deep and fortunately got the win against a good Halifax side.

"I’d really like to thank Matt Calland, we haven’t been an easy bunch to coach for three years; but thanks to him we joined as boys and we leave as men.”

Similar sentiments were echoed by one of the game’s star players, Guilherme Sousa, he said: “What an absolutely amazing game, I have no words. I felt I started poorly, but I came back and pushed through for the try, all of the lads did brilliantly. The game could have gone either way, but it feels amazing to have won.”

Hopwood Coach, Matt Calland said: “What a superb effort from both teams, they played a really good game in front of a sizeable crowd. I am immensely proud of all our lads, they really stuck together and showed excellent strength and mentality.

“I’d also like to thank Rochdale Hornets for hosting the game, as well as Banner Office Supplies and Sport4Real Team Wear for sponsoring our team. Without them, this match wouldn’t have been anywhere near as special.”