Rugby round-up: Wins for Heath and Old Crossleyans over the weekend

Preparations for the game were changed at the last minute as captain Chris Moore and stand-off Dan Cole were unfit. So in came Jack Pilcher and Olly Scrimshaw.

Also unavailable, due to work commitments, was Gavin Rhodes and in came Saif Boussadda who passed a late fitness test. On the bench were Fergus Marsden, George Heron and Matt Hallett. It was also good to see a rather tanned looking coach Syd Sales back on the touchline.

As with most games this season Pocklington would be an unknown quantity, but coach Dave Harrison had worked his squad hard during the week to ensure they were prepared - and early indications showed the improvements made as, from the first line-out, Matt Beasty grabbed the ball to set up a catch and drive to the visitors line with only minutes played. Pocklington stood firm and cleared the line but Heath were straight back with Callum Harriett Brown, Eddie Cartwright and Elliott Spiers linking well and with Olly Scrimshaw prominent and dictating play the visitors could not handle the pace of the game, giving away several penalties in the process.

Line outs were much better than last week and when Ben Stringer stole the ball from one, this set up yet another onslaught into the Pocklington half and it came as no surprise when Heath took the lead with a penalty from Eddie Cartwright, 3-0, with 20 minutes played.

From the re-start, Heath got possession and continued to bombard the visitors defence. A fine run from Scrimshaw saw him release the supporting Harriott-Brown and with a try imminent only a loose pass to Spiers prevented a first try for the home side.

After 30 minutes Fergus Marsden and George Heron replaced Pilcher and Boussadda and both had an immediate impact. With Dom Walsh dictating play at the scrum this enabled the ball to come out to Joe Morrison and a superb run for the try-line looked like a certain try but, unfortunately, Morrison’s pass once again fell short for Spiers, before the centre collapsed with an injured ankle and hobbled off the pitch. The referee brought play back for a Heath penalty and Cartwright increased the home side’s lead to 6-0 with half time approaching.

Matt Hallett came on for Morrison. Pocklington had struggled all game to come to terms with its pace but managed to get hold of the ball and began to put pressure on Heath. Twenty plus phases of play later, with Heath in disarray, the visitors went over in the corner deep into injury time to reduce the arrears 6-5 as the half time whistle blew.

From the re-start the visitors continued where they had left off and it was Heaths turn to try and stem the tide. Unfortunately, Fergus Marsden and Jonny Cole clashed heads as Heath defended and had to leave the field replaced by Boussadda and Morrison but they could not prevent Pocklingtom taking the lead with a penalty on 43 minutes, 8-6.

The game became stop start with a splattering of injuries to both sides but Morrison, Hallett and Tom Owen were beginning to take charge and yet another penalty from Cartwright enabled Heath to take the lead again 9-8 with 55 minutes on the clock. However, the possession game came into play again for Pocklington but some sandbagging defence from the home side prevented a score. Unfortunately, Mark Puttick was yellow carded for an intentional knock on and the visitors took advantage.

A missed penalty from them helped Heath but it was only a matter of time before the visitors would score and, from a quickly taken penalty, Heath conceded a second try, converted, and Pocklington led 15-9 with 10 minutes left to play.

An injury to Boussadda saw Marsden back onto the field and it was time for Heath to have patience and keep control of the ball. With the home crowd becoming anxious and willing Heath to score their first try, the home team began the onslaught. Morrison, Spiers and Mclaughlin made big inroads into the visitors defence and as Walsh was replaced by George Heron to increase the scrum power the pressure mounted and Morrison took his chance to go over for a try and now the pressure moved to Eddie Cartwright to seal the conversion. His first attempt was well wide but the official ruled Pocklington had encroached the field and ruled a re-take. Even more pressure but Cartwright kept his cool and converted and Heath led 16-15 with minutes remaining.

Could this be the dream start for Heath? Pocklington had other ideas and surged forwards in search of a score. This seemed to be on the cards as some slick inter-play from the visitors backs looked like a certain try in the corner but, like an intercept missile, Matt Hallett had other ideas taking man and ball out over the touch-line with a textbook tackle, much to the relief of the home crowd and the amazement of the visiting crowd. From the line-out Beasty yet again won ball and Heath, with a driving maul, ended up on their 22 line and, from a clearance kick, ended up on the half way line. There now had to be another big effort from the forwards which they put in and when the final whistle blew Heath had gained a deserved win.

After 18 months, local live rugby returned to Broomfield as Old Crossleyans won 13–10 against Middlesbrough.

Crocs started proceedings with Joe Gallagher kicking off deep into the Middlesbrough half.

Crocs soon dominated early possession following a good lineout from the away team’s clearance.

Rampaging runs by Sam Ives, Reuben Pollard and Billy Hammond created good quick ball leading to a neat move which almost released Matthew Beswick through midfield, only halted by good cover defence from the away team.

Joe Buckle and Nick Faulkner further built pressure allowing full back Josh Hunt space to test the opposition flank defence, this lead to indiscipline at the breakdown on their own 22 meter line presenting the first opportunity of points in the game. Joe Gallagher stepped up with the kicking team and Crocs were off the mark.

Middlesbrough responded well and with some ill discipline at the breakdown by the home team they soon found themselves threatening the Crocs defence.

Strong running by the away team’s back row, tested the crocs midfield, but with solid tackling by Jack Hammond, Chris Vine and George Ackroyd, Middlesbrough coughed up possession and their momentum was lost.

Middlesbrough then succumbed to scrum pressure following a good surge form the Crocs front five, Joe Gallagher then elected for territory putting Crocs deep into the opposition half.

Crocs built phases patiently form the subsequent line out, eye catching drives from Sam Ives and George Hammond created good ruck ball enabling Joe Gallagher to attempt a clever cross field kick for the speedy winger Matthew Beswick, unfortunately the speed of the ball beat him leading to line out for the away team.

A high tack by Joe Buckle allowed Middlesbrough to clear their lines and sustain some good possession for themselves.

Some neat interchanges between the away team forwards helped generate good ruck speed creating space on the flank for their speedy winger to exploit. The winger managed to outpace the Crocs cover defence and race over from 20 metres un-opposed. The try was converted and Middlesbrough took the lead.

Crocs response was instant when a clearance kick was fielded by Joe Stott who then managed to evade several defenders and raced deep into the opposition half, Jack Hammond and Chris Vine were on hand to continue the attack which almost lead to the Crocs winger, Beswick, scoring in the corner, but unfortunately yet again denied by excellent cover defence.

Crocs continued to mount pressure with strong drives from Joe Buckle, Reuben Pollard and Nick Faulkner, however loose play and indiscipline at key moments frustrated the crocs.

Crocs were not to be denied though, and following a lengthy spell of possession they finally unlocked the Middlesbrough defence following a neat passing move involving Billy Hammond and Joe Gallagher to release the speedy Matthew Beswick to score in the corner.

Joe Gallagher added the extras with an excellent touch line conversion, crocs were now leading by three points.

Middlesbrough then enjoyed their best spell of the match involving their strong forwards linking well causing problems for the Crocs defence, this pressure lead to a penalty deep in the Crocs half, but instead of taking the points to equalise the game, they gambled and went for further territory.

Frustratingly their lineout yet again failed them at a crucial point and crocs cleared their lines. This was perhaps the turning point of the game as the home team, on the back of their powerful scrummaging were quickly presented with a penalty opportunity 40 metres out and the in-form Joe Gallagher slotted with ease, reversing the fortunes and stretching the lead to six points.

The game continued to eb and flow in midfield with noticeable strong defensive efforts from James Hinchliffe, Roland Marki and George Ackroyd.

Middlesbrough’s tenacity in attack soon brought another scoring opportunity following indiscipline in the Crocs half, they duly elected to kick and narrow the lead to just three points.

The game remained in the balance with both sides looking capable of scoring but sustained pressure was denied as neither side could return possession from their poor functioning lineouts.

Eventually time ran out for the away team as crocs kicked dead from a midfield scrum as the referee had indicated full time.

A young Rishworthian side travelled to Beverley in the first league game since March 14 last year, losing 50-21.

The team gained promotion in that season from Yorkshire Two. The trip to Beverley was delayed owing to a serious accident on the M62 and the game kicked off at 3.15pm.

Rishworthians had seven players who had played fewer than a dozen games between them. The average age of the team was 26.

Beverley pressed early and the first five minutes were played in the visitors’ half, with fly half Phil Duboulay converting a penalty.

An impressive movement by the visitors’ backs, and swift passing by Josh Kelly and Joe Billing, enabled Luke Sutcliffe to move the ball back inside to Doug Heseltine to score a try, converted by Kelly.

Lewis Szrama was making a nuisance of himself for Beverley, and scored an unconverted try from an advantage after a high tackle against Luke Sutcliffe, who received a yellow card. 

The home team three quarters started to make holes in the Rishworthian defence with fullback Luke Hazell and scrum half Rob Smith prominent. Hazell scored his first try which was converted by Duboulay to take the score to 15-7.

Sutcliffe returned but was soon injured and replaced by Ethan Pollard. The Beverley forwards created space in the Rishworthian half and number eight Rhys Ines strolled over for a try converted by Duboulay.

At 22-7 the Copley men were trying to keep up with their opponents and the defence was solid, but Beverley’s attacking play created more space and another try was scored just before half-time by Duboulay which he converted to make it 29–7 at the break.

Jack Davis and Jack Smart replaced Ryan Mudd and Tyler Burnip and the visitors started to move the ball and gain more ground.

Billing and Kelly started to gain advantage for the visitors and from a scrum near the home line Callum Heseltine dived over for a try converted by Kelly.

The Beverley backs again made ground and following a line out near the visitors’ line Hazell scored his second try converted by Duboulay. Beverley scored two more tries and Duboulay reached 20 points.

Not to be outdone Rishworthians moved the ball well for James Mchugh to score their third try, converted by Kelly.

The visitors suffered three injuries which unbalanced the three quarters and the score flattered the home side. Head coach Richard Brown will be disappointed at the result, but the future looks encouraging.

The development team defeated Baildon seconds away by 50-0.

Halifax Vandals were left wondering what could have been as they started their Yorkshire 3 campaign with a 28-19 loss to Castleford.

After a tough week, which saw nine props ruled out for a variety of reasons and the club going into the game without a recognised scrum-half, the Vandals can take heart from the fact they had somehow performed the impossible and managed to field two teams (the 2s faced Castleford back at Warley in the Merit League) for the opening weekend.

Tom West, once of neighbours Halifax, was drafted in at 72 hours notice to alleviate the issues in the front row, while Jimmy Crowther stepped up to fill the vacant nine shirt despite zero training sessions in the new role. On top of this, flanker George Clapham was deployed as an emergency 12, while Nath Harris made his first appearance since March 2020, having missed the entire pre-season campaign through work.

However, despite the disruptions, the Vandals went toe-to-toe with a strong Castleford team who have the talent to be challenging for promotion at the end of the season.

The Vandals set-piece never faltered, while the visitors made good yards over the gain line, led by new signing Olly Coyne, Isaac Pollard, Clapham and Harris.

Crowther and Castleford’s star 15 Tom Egan swapped penalties in the first eight minutes as both sides looked to gain an advantage, before the Vandals moved 6-3 up through the boot of their makeshift nine.

The Vandals had looked fairly comfortable at this stage but a poor clearance from a free-kick gave Castleford the counter-attacking chance that makes them so dangerous, with Egan setting them on their way for Oliver Arundel to score after a powerful 30m charge. Egan converted.

And the home side followed up with a second score on the half-hour mark, Desmond McSweeney profiting out-wide from a smart move.

Vandals regrouped brilliantly, though, and spent the final 10 minutes of the half on the front foot. Danny Mitchell went close after a clever break but was deemed to have been held up, while Crowther had two shots at goal - one which went over to reduce the deficit to 15-9.

From the resulting kick-off, the Vandals countered as a loose ball wasn’t gathered. Pollard hacked upfield, won the race and only a desperate last ditch tackle denied him on the line. However the Castleford No.20 then deliberately killed the ball, stopping any hope of Vandals exploiting the gapping holes in the home defence, and was yellow carded. Sensing blood and with ref signalling for last play before half-time, Vandals opted to run the ball and they looked to have been rewarded when Ben Burnside drove over. The ref, though, was unsighted and ruled the ball was held up.

The start of the second half mirrored that of the first, with Crowther slotting over a penalty, only for Egan to extend Castleford’s lead to 21-12 with two of his own.

Both sides went at it hammer and tongs, but despite having the lion’s share of possession, the Vandals just couldn’t get the breakthrough - and with 10 minutes left they were caught by a sucker punch as Egan again cut through initially to creat the space for Lawrence Stevens to score. Egan converted.

With the score at 28-12 and time running out, Vandals threw everything at Cas. Chris Robinson, Joe Greenwood and Coyne all had good breaks that came to nothing, while visitors felt they deserved more when a 2 v 1 ended up with the try-scoring pass being slapped down but the referee only awarded a scrum.

Vandals finally breached the Cas defence with two minutes to go, with Jamie Richardson being driven over. Crowther converted to cut the gap to 9 points - and although the visitors pushed for a deserved bonus point, it wasn’t to be.

Full credit to Castleford, who played well for the win and will be among the front-runners this season based on their performance.

Halifax Vandals 2nds produced a superb display to register their first win of the new season.

The home side were able to field 17 players for the game (including a couple of lads from Crocs 2s who had a free weekend), which was some feat considering the number of unavailabilities throughout the club for the opening week of the season.

Castleford, who arrived with 13 players, also had to bring in a couple of players from neighbouring Halifax to ensure they were able to start with a full XV - with this actually being the best result of the day as 32 lads were able to play this amazing sport of ours.

James Wainwright, the development coach at Crocs, scored twice, former skipper Dave French capped an impressive display with a try, while Aaron Horner also scooted over. Ben Simms added two conversions.

Castleford had opened the scoring before French cut the deficit to 7-5. Wainwright then crossed twice in quick succession, Simms converting the second, to give the hosts a 17-7 lead at the break.

The visitors got their second converted try after the interval, however the Vandals were rewarded for their impressive play with a try through Horner. Simms converting to seal the win.