A LATE drop goal by Milford’s Josh Parle settled a dramatic cup tie and denied Recs a victory against the odds. In what was a mightily gutsy effort, a significantly under strength home side appeared to have pulled off a remarkable win when scrum half Danny Lynch rounded off a brilliant move to edge Recs 18-16 ahead with four minutes remaining. But this absorbing match at Ruskin Drive still had more twists and turns and the Leeds amateurs found their composure in the dying minutes to shatter Recs, who had been desperate to send veteran forward John Rees in to retirement with a victory. The Leeds-based Marlins dominated early on as scrum half Parle pulled the strings. He created the opening try for centre John Elkington inside six minutes. Then, midway through the half, full back Ryan Oxtoby stepped through the defence and Martin Loveridge's conversion made it 0-10. The North West Men's League champions struggled to make inroads but they found inspiration from their superb loose forward Jamie Smith and prop Jono Peers. It was Smith who provided the cutting edge, surging through the Milford line from 50 metres out before brushing off Oxtoby's challenge to race under the posts for a try Lynch converted. The touchdown energised Recs and they took the lead ahead of the break when Lynch darted on to an offload from Peers and jinked past the cover to score. Lynch's second conversion made it 12-10 at the break and a compelling second half followed. Rees sadly had to leave the action on his final appearance for the club after suffering a compound dislocation of his right thumb. However, with mistakes creeping into Milford's play, the home side took a stranglehold on territory. However, the Yorkshiremen's defence was superb as they denied Smith's charges to the line on several occasions and cut down stand off Ryan Rogers after he had broken clear. They then countered after being awarded a penalty deep inside their own half as Fairhead took a quick tap and outpaced the cover during a 90-metre sprint to the line. Recs complained the tap had been taken off the mark but the referee, ex professional player Jamie Bloem, dismissed their grievances. It appeared that would be the turning point but there was still plenty of drama to follow. Inside the last five minutes, Rogers freed Recs' Mark Ashton down the left and after looking inside for support he lofted a kick towards the posts which Lynch took at full tilt before diving over the line. The straightforward conversion put Recs ahead - but Loveridge's penalty tied the game before Parle slotted the drop goal from 30metres. Even then there was drama as Recs gathered the ball from the restart and drove to towards the uprights, only to see Rogers', under heavy pressure, pull his attempt to level to the left of the posts. Recs: Mark Ashton; Kel Duffy, Andy Webster; Andrew Knapper, Phil Henry; Ryan Rogers, Danny Lynch; Jono Peers, Ryan Liptrot, John Rees, Chris Smith, John Ford, Jamie Smith. Subs: Paul Knapper, Dave Flynn, Gary Philbin. Tries: J Smith, Lynch (2) Goals: Lynch (3) Milford Marlins: Ryan Oxtoby, Martin Loveridge, John Elkington, Aaron Jones-Bishop, Sam Hood; Adam Fairhead, Josh Parle; Anthony Ward, James Coats, Sam Morton, Jack Pickles, Luke Reeves, James Barker. Subs: Joe Burns, Dave Yates, John Plunkett, Mark Gibson. Tries: Elkington, Oxtoby, Fairhead. Goals: Loveridge (3) Drop goal: Parle Man of the match: Jamie Smith (Pilkington Recs)