Twos in unchartered territory after a nilling at the hands of Baildon

The brotherhood left with a very unfamiliar feeling

Skipton stuttered through their first game of the new year, falling foul to the infamous winter Baildon conditions. Although the gale force winds were equally unsuitable, the home side showed their resilience to it, and demonstrated why they are able to pick up valuable league points during the winter months.

Skipton played into the wind first half, believing having the wind on their backs against a tiring opposition in the second period would give them the edge, unfortunately that wasn't to be. Baildon camped in the Skipton 22 for much of the first half with the Brotherhood opting to keep it tight with the pack driving through in pods. The wind prevented any platform for creative play in the backline and although Skipton managed to venture deep into Baildon territory numerous times, found themselves unable to convert the chances. 2 tries and a penalty goal fell either side of a yellow card for deliberate knock on from Skipper Lee Shaw (Witch Electrical) and the teams turned around 18 points and a man down.
In the second period Skipton were picked apart further by the referees pocket. Yellow cards to Miff Smith and Jake Emmison (Sponsorship available) within 10 minutes of the restart resulted in a disjointed on field squad. An injury to Aidan Procter (Sponsorship available) also played its part. Baildon took advantage to score a further 3 tries and gain themselves a bonus point victory.

The score really doesn't reflect the effort. Ash Flash Greaves (One Contact), Andy Whitley (The Albion) and Tom Allsopp (Castlefield cosmetics) all put in huge performances but the stand out player was Michael McLachlan (Woodhouse Tiling) who deserved his MoM award. Moment of the game went to Andy Whitley for his 60th minute ruck clearance which saw him strut back into position barely phased leaving 4 Baildon jacklers scattered across a 10m radius. DoD went to Ash Flash Greaves for his great penalty restart which saw him make 5 yards before losing the ball under no pressure.