Shoesmith shines as Old Rishworthians defeat Yarnbury

While there were outstanding performances from a number of players, left wing Anthony Shoesmith showed why he is a match winner with two tries, the second, a brilliant individual effort, registering a winning bonus point for his side.

There was much to be pleased about in Rishworthians’ first half performance as chance after chance was created, although too many last pass errors denied them a bigger lead than the 16-3 advantage they took into the second half.

The home side started the game like an express train and the pack put the visitors under pressure. Josh Kelly put Rishworthians ahead with a penalty before Shoesmith was called back for a forward pass.

The lead was cancelled out by a penalty from Yarnbury's Daniel Pound, but the hosts came straight back and strong runs from lock Fraser Swarbrooke and number 8 Nick Faulkner set up the position before a clever cross kick put Shoesmith over for an unconverted try in the corner.

New signing AJ Boardman showed his potential with some impressive bursts through the centre. He was instrumental in the next try, getting the ball away to full-back Joe Billing who put winger Craig Strickland over in the corner.

The front row of Jack Smart, Toby Muscat-Baron, Greg Day and replacement Luke Illingworth might not be the biggest, but they performed admirably and good counter-rucking from Illingworth sent the ball out to Boardman, who was held up just short. However, the pressure brought another penalty for Kelly and he made it 16-3 at the break.

Yarnbury hit back on the resumption, the ball coming out from a scrum for wing Josh Bell to power through with real pace for a converted try.

Rishworthians continued to find themselves under pressure, but weathered the storm and surged over from a great line-out take by Jacob Bower, with Smart getting the touchdown.

Yarnbury broke away but a kick went straight to Shoesmith and he ran back through the centre, breaking several tackles before sprinting in under the posts for a fine individual try to secure a bonus point. Kelly added the conversion.

Boardman went over for what looked like his debut try, only for it to be ruled out for a forward pass and with almost the last act of the game, Rishworthians gifted a try, taking an outrageous dummy from Pound, who then converted his try.