Yarnbury 12 – 19 Heath RUFC – Yorkshire League 1

Yarnbury 12 – 19 Heath RUFC – Yorkshire League 1

Yarnbury returned to action after the Christmas and New Year break with a league game against the in form league side from Halifax who finished off 2016 with a magnificent away win at League leaders Bridlington their first defeat this season.This was mainly due to The Heath Pack who are arguably the strongest in the League and gave the Yarnbury side a torrid time in the corresponding fixture at Halifax earlier in the season albeit with Yarnbury youthful three quarter line coming out on top in that fixture.Yarnbury welcomed back stand off Kieran Davies to orchestrate the three quarters and George Oldridge as cover on the bench.The pack was the strongest available although still missing several senior forwards through injury and unavailability.However,with James Falgate and Ian Maycock in the second row the scrums should be solid for the close encounters.

For the first ten minutes the contest was frantic and in the middle of the park as both sides looked to impose their game on the opposition Heath relied on a kicking game in this period to put Yarnbury under pressure but the home side decided to run the ball and try to move around the opposition pack.Yarnbury’s young full back Will Marshall was proving a handful with his pace and footwork Yarnbury were being stopped out wide .Captain and centre Jason Avison made the most telling break in this period looking to break through the defence and was only stopped five metres short of the line but the ball was eventually cleared.Yarnbury had only had a successful penalty to show for their efforts to take the lead by stand off Kieran Davies.His decisive kicking was proving useful to clear their lines and foil the opposition.

Heath countered up the left after 18 minutes and winger Jordan Bradbrook managed to touch down after a kick and chase squirmed out of the defender’s grasp despite the sterling efforts of Marshall in the tackle.What looked like a double movement was given as a try by the referee so no complaints.Marshall and Avison also made try saving tackles after Davies kicked two further penalties following infringements on the ground by the Heath forwards under sustained pressure from Yarnbury to give the home side a narrow but deserved lead at the break.

The game was attritional for the third quarter and stalemate with both sides making mistakes with their passing under the pressure to force tries.Yarnbury certainly lost several balls on the floor due to scrum pressure from the opponents when in good attacking positions.Although Heath were pressing for the winning score Yarnbury defence was excellent at this stage and as the game went on Yarnbury were also pressing the opponents defence for the advantage.On 60 minutes Heath scored a second try through wing Lewis Saltonstall outstripping the cover.Ezra Hinchcliffe converting to give Heath a narrow lead but Yarnbury levelled the scores with a long range Davies penalty only to loose out in the last minute to a try from Heath Captain and scrum half Dom Walsh after the home side failed to clear their lines so instead of a two point draw Yarnbury had to settle for a one point from the the game.