U16s Win First Game On New 3G Pitch

Yarnbury (14) 21
Roundhegians (5) 10
Tries: James Longhawn, Ruairi Daly, Keenan Dixon-Dyer
Cons: Maxwell Lee (3)

Yarnbury played better than Roundhegians throughout the game, and the scores could have been a lot different after 80 minutes, with at least three tries being left on the field. James Longhawn and Ruairi Daly put the first scores on the board in similar fashion, pick and driving over close to the posts. But Roundhegians responded with one try before and one after the break. Keenan Dixon-Dyer would provide the match settling score, but only after Joe Birchall and Carter Proctor had both spent 10 minutes in the bin for separate offences.

Yarnbury started the brightest, immediately after Roundhegians kicked off a couple of phases were followed by two well placed kicks by Maxwell Lee, which were both successfully gathered by Yarnbury players. However a knock on then halted play resulting in a scrum for the away side. But when they attempted to clear, their fly half’s kick was charged down by Joe Pilling before going into touch giving Yarnbury a lineout just inside the 22. A maul was formed and drove almost all the way to the line, but was stopped just short. Pick and drives were opted for but no one could reach the line until Ruairi Daly grounded the ball, however he was adjudged to have made a double movement in the process – no try. Yarnbury would soon have another penalty for offside though where they chose to kick for a lineout in almost exactly the same position as before. The maul worked to the same effect and so the ball still needed to be moved wide. Edward Green broke two tackles to almost reach the line, but it was James Longhawn who was able to pick up and dive to score, for the second game running. Maxwell Lee kicked the conversion 10 minutes in; 7-0. Yarnbury would again have a lineout, this time 5 meters out, 4 minutes after their first try, after Jacob Rawson was tackled high when sprinting down the wing. A maul was set up yet again, but yet again couldn’t quite reach the line, but the gap was left open for Ruairi Daly to drive over the line, no doubt about this one. Another conversion was kicked; 14-0.

Roundhegians first experience of rugby in the Yarnbury 22 came in the 21st minute, and led to them taking away five points. However Yarnbury did not make this easy, it took five minutes for the away side to get their try after a clearance kick that wasn’t well chased led to them first entering the 22. Good line speed and an abundance of strong tackles led to the away side having to experiment with ball in hand, and eventually the pressure became too much to handle as Yarnbury gave away two successive penalties for going off their feet at the ruck. Both were taken quickly, and ended up with the ball going wide into a vast amount of space and an easy try being scored. The conversion was missed; 14-5. Yarnbury had one last chance for a score before half time, following a couple of good breaks Alex Koppany made his way to the line, but decided to set the ball back, instead of putting the ball down, most likely for fear of being held up. Ruairi Daly and Edward Green then attempted to pick and drive but the latter was penalised for another double movement. Half time Yarnbury 14-5 Roundhegians.

It was early in the second half when the first two of the three yellow cards seen in the match were shown. After Yarnbury won a penalty for an infringement at the ruck, a fight between the forwards seemingly broke out. One of the Roundhegians players and Joe Birchall received yellow cards for their actions during the incident. Not much occurred during these ten minutes, it was once both sides were back to their full strength that the game came back to life. Yarnbury failed to score two certain tries that would have put the game to bed due to handling errors when either there was another space to score or one further pass would put another player in. and following this, Roundhegians gained momentum and were able to put the home side under pressure. Keenan Dixon-Dyer, who was now back on the pitch after previously being substituted, had to be relied on twice at full back to make a couple of incredible tackles to stop the way side from scoring and bringing themselves back into the game. However with 9 minutes to play Roundhegians did score. Following a break and a couple of pick and drives, one of their forwards was mid tackle just before the line, but he opted for an offload that was caught by Jack Brownridge. The Yarnbury player then had the ball subsequently ripped from his hands and the away player could dive over the line and score. The conversion was missed, but there was now only 4 points in it.

Yarnbury would almost instantly responded to this score, by turning over the ball in a ruck following the restart. Jamie McDonnell was the first to go close when the ball was floated out wide to him, but he was stopped on the line, as where the next two forwards who attempted pick and drives for the line. But by now, enough players had been sucked in and around the breakdown leaving a large overlap, however this was not required as Keenan Dixon-Dyer could dummy and score near the posts, receiving a knock to the head as he did so. Maxwell Lee would retain his 100% kicking accuracy as he scored the conversion; 21-10.

With 8 minutes to go it could have been assumed that the drama was all but over. But this is Yarnbury, and so with this amount of time on the clock, Carter Proctor received a yellow card for an illegal clear out that saw him use his forearm to charge a player who was already on the floor. From talking to the referee after the game, I gather that this was very close to meriting a straight red card. Full Time Yarnbury 21-10 Roundhegians. A third win of the season was greatly received, but next week the boys head to Pocklington for the first round of the Yorkshire Bowl.

Yarnbury: Keenan Dixon-Dyer, Jamie McDonnell, Matt Schofield, Edward Green (capt), Jacob Rawson, Maxwell Lee, Oscar Andrews, Carter Proctor, James Longhawn, Saman Azari, Ruairi Daly, Ethan Dawrant, Joe Birchall, Joe Pilling, Alex Koppany

Replacements: Dan Mitchell, Sam Brown, Jack Brownridge, Leo Mercer, Josh Dunn

Man of the Match: Ruairi Daly – 100% effort as always, got his try, and on another day may have even had a hat-trick.