Barnsley 17 - 18 Bridlington in Yorkshire Shield First Round

BARNSLEY 17 BRIDLINGTON 18 (Yorkshire Shield Round 1)
To open their new season, Barnsley entertained Bridlington in the first round of the Yorkshire Shield on a blustery day at Shaw Lane. Both teams were short of several established players, but an entertaining game was won by the closest of margins, with whoever was the loser able to feel a little unlucky. For the home side, now back in Yorks 2, Peel began at scrum half, newcomer Watt joined Tyler Smith in the second row, and Dan Wright began at hooker. There were also returns after long injuries from Naisby, Andrew Smith and Scorah, and Joe Taylor was given a run in the centre, and Alex Edge had a rare chance in the back row.
Brid began on the offensive but neither side could take control, with Josh Smith missing a long distance penalty, until Aaron Gaunt scored the opening try of the game from a powerful run over 20m, forcing his way through defenders, side stepping and finally forcing the ball down, for Smith to convert for a 7-0 lead. Edge did well to harass the visiting scrum half, but Barnsley were penalised for holding onto the ball on the ground, and Brid returned to the attack. The wind was making lines out difficult to control, but both sides moved the ball well, especially Brid who opened their scoring with a good try wide out scored by Stevens.
Wright was replaced by Jeffels, with Gaunt giving second row a try. A great charge down by veteran Robinson saw a chance lost to an unlucky bounce, and the play became scrappy a ragged for a time with a lot of errors and penalties making for a stop start period up to half time.
The second half began with Brid in charge, and they took the lead when full back Robinson ran around the Barnsley defence to score a good try, 7-10 to the visitors. The Barnsley pack regained some of the initiative, helped by energetic work by Skipper Reed and newcomer Smith, and the Barnsley pack were gaining the upper hand, with Scorah just failing to catch his own kick ahead after great handling among the backs. In this respect Peel was giving Hayward some good ball, and he was his usual elusive self, often finding Jeffels with good passes. Barnsley were camped on the opposition try line when Peel took advantage of a penalty and gave Taylor the chance to show his skill and strength to score close in. Barnsley 12 -10 ahead! A Brid penalty, harshly awarded after a tough tackle by Jeffels, put them back in front but Barnsley were still in the game. Louw came on for Robinson, and Barnsley looked to take the lead once more.
It came after Hayward had done well, and the forwards moved closer, until Hatfield powered his way over the line to put the home side 17 – 13 in front. Again the conversion was missed, but time was now running out. Home supporters cheered the team on, hoping against hope for a win to start the season. Jeffels was yellow carded for a foul tackle, but even then the pack was doing well. In possession, Brid looked threatening in their backs, but final passes went astray or runners were tackled. Barnsley releaxed fatally near their own line, all owing Brid to take a 1 point lead into the last minutes, and all looked over as the home side were stuck in their own 22.
One last chance however, as the ball squirted out of a scrum and Hayward picked it up and sprinted for the try line only for the referee to bring him back, having blown his whistle to give Barnsley a scrum! Such split second events decide games, and it was Brid who took the spoils ad a place against near rivals Scarborough in the next round. For Barnsley, reasons to be cheerful, though next Saturday’s league match is away at Bradford Salem, where games don’t get much tougher than that!