Well that wasn’t the start to the season we had hoped for !!!! Traveling to Mosborough, potentially the hardest game of the season with 15 players was going to be hard enough but the weather conditions on the day made a hard game that little bit harder. Luckily the weather did actually do us an initial favour in that it freed up a few extra players and we were able to start the game with a squad of 18.

With our usual 10, 12 combination missing captain Lee Dawson stepped up to the mark and agreed to play at 10 despite having suffered a serious finger injury the week before, with Adam Acker moving to centre from his usual backrow position. The game plan from there on was meant to be simple keep the ball tight and play a forward dominant game, which in the conditions was about all could be done anyway. We got off to a good start dominating large parts of the game, both in terms of possession and territory. However it was Mosborough who put the 1st points on the board when they broke down field to score. We managed to put the pressure back on though and eventually were rewarded when Jo Hardy slotted over a 25m penalty. Another bit of bad luck saw Mosborough break down field again and added another try and conversion before Hardy again cut the deficient with another penalty. Mosborough were growing into the game and started to realise they had the pace in the backs to do some damage and with the rain easing up started to throw the ball about more. They eventually crashed over for another try following a 5m scrum to complete the 1st half scoring.

Into the 2nd half we started to try too hard and forced the game allowing Mosborough to retain more possession from our mistakes, whether that was offloading under pressure, missing touch from penalty kicks or just not been aggressive around the ruck situation. With more possession Mosborough used they quicker backs to good effect and added to 2 quick tries. Some strange referring decisions did not help our composure and as the half moved on we could not find the ball security and retention to put pressure on the home sides defense. A final try from Mosborough gave the final score a very flattering look and left us bottom of the league table after the 1st weekends result.

“Despite the result I am still confident we can compete for promotion in this league” Coach Jonny told the players after the game. “We need to take more positives from the game than negatives, and move onto next Saturdays game to Wibsey with confidence this result was just an off day for us. I saw plenty of effort and desire from the players and the fact everybody is so upset in their own performances in the changing room shows me the passion is real and gives me hope for the rest of the season”.

This weekend we have 2 (YES TWO) teams at home as the 1st take on Wibsey in Yorkshire 5 action, whilst our newly reformed 2nd XV take on Bramley Phoenix in the Merit table. Can all available players please confirm availability (or otherwise ASAP) and if you know of anybody who might want a social bit of rugby with the 2nd XV please get them down. Both games KO at 3pm.

And now onto the weekly performance awards –

Player of the week – Playing in a down pour is never going to be pretty and gave the backs no room to show they’re skills. Therefore the POTW was always going to come from the forwards. Captain Dawson had a great game leading by example and actually playing in 4 different positions during the game and moving into the lineout to great affect. Dave Leatham was busy as usual and Chris Nevison was our most dominant defender, but this weeks POTW goes to Rob Dowell who had a great game off the backrow, always in position to defend the ball, aggressive in defense and despite receiving a bad bang on the head was back on his feet to make another tackle before leaving the field. Good game Rob – well done mate.

Arse of the Week – Initially this was going to be a difficult decision as nobody really stood out on the day other than maybe Joe Hardy who told his opposite number to “run at me” when it was actually our put into the scrum, he obviously had no confidence in our pack to secure the ball. However after the game Mosborough held a Player and Dick of the Day award and Daniel Rushton was nominated for Garforths Dick of the Day for getting his bell rung by one of his own players (yes Big Nevison was even hitting his own players in defense !!!). Personally I thought this a little harsh, but his effort to try and down a pint of beer was farcical. A good 3 minutes passed before he had completed the task and the other 3 players nominated had all moved away leaving the tall winger a lonesome sight atop a stool in the middle of the club house !!!! Rushton you were frankly an embarrassment to the clubs good name of off-field drinking and therefore rightly this weeks Arse of the Week.

Try – na
Conversion – na
Penalties – Hardy (2)
Drop Goal – n