Having lost to Egremont eight times in succession in the annual Jacky Davidson Memorial Cup, Hensingham finally lifted the trophy with a thrilling win in the opener to their 2026 rugby league season, writes Ben Challis.
It is nine years after the death of the popular rugby league player and coach who was again remembered by two of his former clubs with this special memorial game.
Hensingham and Egremont have met annually since Jacky’s death in 2017, and yet again there was a big crowd to witness this year’s contest.
And what a treat they got. This was a hard fought battle from start to finish and in the opening sets both sides put in some massive tackles.
It was Hensingham who took the lead just five minutes in from a move set up by Fletcher Holgate which saw captain Noel Branthwaite dart over under the sticks, giving Dylan Bragg a simple conversion for a 6-0 lead.
The pace was relentless, with Egremont’s fast moving attacks doggedly blocked by staunch Hensingham defending who then launched counter attacks, but 15 minutes in the Rangers’ pressure paid off and Cian Sharpe dived in on the left wing for an unconverted try and 6-4.
The sides continued to look well marched, and both had chances: Hensingham’s Miller Dalton almost made the Rangers’ try line but ran out of steam and was tackled whilst waiting for support to arrive, and Egremont’s Brad Long was held up on the Hensingham try line before Sharpe was unlucky not to score with a carbon copy of his first try, but was pushed into touch just a metre short of the try line.
The game remained end to end before a fumbled catch on the Egremont try line was spilled and Hensingham’s Dan McGarry was only to happy to collect the ball and dive in to score an unconverted try for a 10-4 lead, and with five minutes of the first half left to play, Hensingham kept Egremont pinned in their own half and went into the break with a six point lead.
Egremont began the second half with a period of sustained pressure with Long looking increasingly dangerous, and he took advantage of a scattered Hensingham defence to barrel his way over the try line under the posts despite the attention of three defenders with the try converted by Joe Lewis for a score line of 10-10 with 50 minutes played.
With Egremont reduced to 12 men after a sin binning, it was now Hensingham’s turn to apply the pressure, and Dalton, Branthwaite and Nick Maudling all came close before a superb Bragg cross field kick was collected by an unmarked McGarry on the wing who dived in by the left corner flag, with Bragg adding an excellent conversion for 16-10 with 19 minutes left on the clock.
Hensingham held onto that lead as they thwarted and pushed back repeated Egremont attacks, but with two minutes to go a Jax Conway charge for Egremont set up Thomas Houghton to dive over for 16-14.
It was nail biting and Lewis’ kick was crucial for the visitors, but the ball sailed just wide of the sticks, and with seconds left and Egremont unable to keep possession after the restart, referee Wirmu Comp blew for time and at last the trophy was Hensingham’s.
Jacky’s wife Joyce presented the trophy to Noel Branthwaite to celebrate a memorable win with his team.
