York R.I. Vs Ossett

York R.I away has often been an unhappy hunting ground for Ossett as an abundance of effort was often accompanied with poor decision making and an undesirable end result. That all changed this Saturday as Ossett RUFC completed the double over their York based rivals for what is believed to be the first time and coach Stuart couldn't be happier with everyone involved (maybe bar one certain vice-captain who may or may not have slept in and missed the bus).

Ossett started the game brightly as has been the trend over the last few weeks and took control of the game in the early stages with the likes of Nathan Spurr hammering the shoulder in in defence and Sam Wilkinson causing all kinds of bother on the flank in which was best game to date in Ossett colours. Yet Ossett were struggling to turn possession into points. York as always contested the ruck well and often made inroads into the Ossett defence with a strong forward running game yet the dynamic Ossett halves pairing were still well in control of the game and directing their troops around the field.

A York break against the run of play however exposed a lazy chase back from the defending team leading to points for home side, leaving Ossett scratching their heads as to how they turned all the possession and field position into points for the opposing team.

Ossett were not to be startled though and stayed calm even after going behind. The first break through for them came off the back of a lovely back line move teeing fullback Mark Fisher up to send a York R.I defending to the shops for a bag of chips with an outrageous dummy in itself worthy of a try. Drury calmly slotting the extras.

A strong line-out, often a main feature in good Ossett play, lead to a dominant maul marching several metres down the left-hand side touchline which in turned allowed front foot ball for the backs to work with. Work with it they did as Fly half Drury weaved round one defender and unleashed new signing Ben Kendall into space, a ridiculous hand off from Kendall then saw him screaming through into the back field and under the posts. Drury again adding the extras. It would turn out to be a decisive try in the game as it was right on the stroke of half time.

Ossett started the second half strongly and again got down into the oppositions 22 with Drury making sure they came away with points slotting over a penalty goal to take them 10 points ahead. 17-7.

Once again a solid line out lead to a dominant Ossett maul close to the York line but this time were not given a look in as the forward pack trundled over the line to give Nathan Spurr a flop over try, with Drury again converting the score was 24-7.

The game was going well for Ossett and in true Ossett fashion we needed to do something to change that. The penalty count wasn't high enough. In steps Clinton North for his first spell of the game. Amazingly managing to give away more penalties than minutes on the field without one of them being his fault, the highlight being a high tackle that even had the player receiving it chuckling.

A combination of penalties and an inability to effectively clear their lines saw Ossett defending for most of the latter stages of the game. This lead to a well worked York try in the corner off of some good back line play and a late penalty which gave York a well-deserved point from the game. With the score finishing at 27-14

Special thanks must go to York R.I as they always not only do they always give us tough competitive games that can always go either way, but they always host us well in the club which is always fantastic to see. Onwards and upwards now for Ossett as I truly believe we can do something special this season!!

Stuart had a dream...