Old Brods U-11’s Sunday 13th March 2011

Yorkshire Cup Final

It was a disappointing day for Old Brodleians Junior Section, as both their U11’s and U12’s were unsuccessful in their respective Yorkshire Cup Finals played back to back at Bradford & Bingley’s ground on Sunday. With a big following of vocal support from all sections of the club expectations were high, but it was just not to be. Both teams rose to the occasion and produced performances worthy of such a proud club but on the day this was not enough.

Old Brods U11’s hopes of winning the Yorkshire Cup for the first time were thwarted by an excellent performance by a York side that showed handling skills worthy of an older age group. York gained possession straight from the kick off, severely testing the Brods defence by moving the ball at pace through their back line from side to side. Brods repelled the opening attacks but without being able to gain any meaningful possession of their own they cracked in the third minute when another good York move ended with a try in the corner.

The taller and heavier York pack was proving a handful for the Brods forwards but they stuck to their task and began to win some ball for the backs to use. Brods managed to get close to York’s line when a clearing kick from fullback Joe Potter was followed up by Liam Stapley who fed Ben Stringer but the York defence forced him into touch. York still had the majority of the ball and Brods were conceding too many penalties and were forced into desperate last ditch tackles to prevent York from adding to their score.

Just when it looked like Brods had weathered the storm, York added a controversial second try when a clearance kick was charged down by a York player in an offside position. Despite the touch judge flagging for the offence, the referee was unsighted and allowed play to continue, for York to cross the line. Brods came back strongly from this set back and finally put pressure on the York line with forward drives and runs from centres Harris Morris and Stapley forcing York to concede a number of penalties. Brods scored when hooker Jimmy Stega-Jones peeled from the back of a maul to plunge over. Stringer added the conversion for Brods to go into half-time just a score behind.

The second half began with Brods very much in the game and their forwards were now winning their fair share of the ball but the York tackling was preventing any break through. Brods backs were being forced back into the middle as their opponents cut off any space on the outside. York were still looking more threatening and were well marshalled by their stand off who made the match safe by bursting through on the blind side from the back of a scrum near the Brods line. The conversion was missed but with Brods now needing two scores and time running out they tried to throw the ball about but could not crack the York defence for a second time.

Brods battled to the end and cannot be faulted for the effort they put in. They can be proud of their achievement in this their first Yorkshire Cup campaign.