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The defeat, coupled with Bentley Good Companions' win at Doncaster Toll Bar, put paid to the Royals' hopes of securing a second successive championship.

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But Methley returned to their Royal Oak base with heads rightly held high after a gallant display in which a team of walking wounded, debutants and honest grafters came agonisingly close to pulling off what would have been, in the circumstances, an astonishing success.

Hit by injuries, work commitments, holidays, illnesses, family priorities and weddings, Methley worked wonders to simply pull a side together. Dalton Marshall, just 16, made an outstanding debut for the club on the wing, while phlegmatic prop Luke Pickering brushed aside a long-standing foot injury with typical stoicism to help his side through the crisis.


Chris Gibson defied a diagnosed heart murmur and anaemia for the cause, and prop Ben Brown stepped forward for only his second outing in five years.


Caretaker coach Terry Crosthwaite's reshuffled side included winger Thomas Kaye at fullback and hooker Reece Willshaw at stand-off, with utility man John Saville slotting in at scrum-half, all three impressing in their unaccustomed roles.

Classy Brotherton, who have appointed highly respected coach Pete Burke for next season, went in front with an early touchdown for Ian Brown and, after Methley had hit back with a sizzling Saville effort, eased to a 12-4 interval lead when Gaz Painter crossed and Danny Lazenby landed his second conversion.


But Methley, incredibly, bounced back in style, Reece Willshaw reducing the deficit with a try of high quality and hustling winger Matty Baker squeezing in at the corner to restore parity.

Centre Sam Payne, recently returned from injury, converted from the touchline to put Methley ahead for the first time. And with props John Laidler and Paul Farrar, together with back row men Danny Bolton and Richard Scott, working tirelessly, the Royals looked capable of recording the `double after the home win earlier in the month.


Despite huge efforts by the likes of centre James Baxter, however, it wasn't to be. Brotherton made the most of a loose ball deep in their own territory to notch an opportunist try by Painter. And a win which will impress Burke was sealed when Dave Carter charged over, Lazenby adding his third goal of the afternoon.


Methley, now bidding to secure runners-up spot and a home game in the Top-Four play-offs, travel to Sherburn on Saturday before returning to Willowbridge for the first time since early March for the visit of Wakefield City on Saturday, April 11.