Yarnbury v Leeds Corinthians & Bradford Salem

A fine day for a game of rugby, the pitch was in fine condition, considering the recent weather we've had of late.

Today we welcomed teams from Leeds Corinthians and Bradford Salem. Corinthians had a team of eight but Salem unfortunately suffered from a few last minute cry offs and arrived with a meagre four. Not to be put off we rallied and Yarnbury offered some of our players to make sure everyone had a game. Cue the in-fighting for the boys as they were reluctant to volunteer to play for anyone but their own club. After a swift team meeting it was decided that they would all play a part and every one volunteered. Hats off to the boys for that.

So, game one against Corinthians. Yarnbury set their stall out from the kick off with a quick turn over at the first breakdown and Mason Baker ran straight through the middle to score under the posts. From the re-start Yarnbury continued with their aggressive play with Max Fletcher applying his trademark stripping of the ball in the maul to gather and plunder through the Corinthian's defensive line. Archie Holden, buoyed by his maiden try last week, put in another good performance with good running in possession and getting stuck into a bit of tackling. Archie is showing improvement week to week. Alex Scott made a strong run and broke through a couple of tackles and gave an excellent off-load to Mason Baker who promptly ran in his second try in as many minutes. At the re-start Yarnbury quickly turned the ball over with some excellent stripping from Will Derham who then offloaded to Mason Baker who in turn gave a superb pass to Harvey Coates who ran in Yarnbury's third try after just four minutes of game time.

Corinthians got into their stride a little bit and enjoyed some continued possession. Mason Baker put in his usual strong tackles ably supported by Archie Holden and Max Fletcher, again, stripping the ball in the maul which then set up yet another Yarnbury attack with some expansive rugby through fast hands and were only outdone by a resolute Corinthians defence.

The try of the game was scored on six minutes with Alex Scott, from a turnover ball deep within his own half, running practically the length of the pitch with great feet to evade a number of attempted tackles scoring under the posts. Following some sustained possession near to the Corinthian's line Max Fletcher drove the ball over the line to ground Yarnbury's fifth try on seven minutes. The half was rounded off with Mason Baker grabbing his brace on eight minutes. At the break Yarnbury had a 30-0 lead and were very good value for the score line. Corinthians, despite the one-sided score line played with their heads held high and never gave up. The slope of the pitch played into Yarnbury's favour in this half.

The Yarnbury team was swapped entirely at half time and running up the slope the second half was a much tougher and closer contest. Jeremy Windridge-France, a new player to the game let alone the squad showed some raw talent with an excellent display of running (mostly in the right direction) and tackling. Corinthians, using the slope to their advantage made sure Yarnbury had to put in a strong defensive game which they did readily and with gusto. However, for all the defensive pressure Corinthians opened their try account with a breakaway try on two minutes into the half. Jeremy Windridge-France almost cancelled out that try with one of his own but was stopped just short of the line with excellent defensive work from Corinthians. Yarnbury extended their lead on four minutes with Jack Gallagher making a storming run from the scrum. Corinthians fought back again and got their second try from a typical winger's run down the touchline to score in the corner. Josh Falkingham put in his usual ubiquitous performance with great running and tackling and was denied an almost certain try but for, again, last gasp tackling from the opposition. The last action of the game was a third try for Corinthians after sustained pressure on the Yarnbury line. The final score 35-15 victory for Yarnbury.

Referee Watch

Following last week's conclusion to the refereeing course our very own Mark Coates, complete with shiny new Acme Thunderer whistle, took to the pitch in his inaugural game as referee. He showed empathy, assertiveness and a strong knowledge of the laws (a complete contrast to Mark Coates the player!) he showed materiality in his decision making and played advantage wherever possible. Signals were clear with intelligent use of the whistle. He can come again.

The second game was a tighter affair with a Salem side, aided by four Yarnbury players opening the scoring on three minutes. Yarnbury's usual counter-rucking was non-existent throughout this half and they made it easy for Salem to recycle the ball and get over the gain line in successive phases of play. Josh Falkingham levelled the scoring four minutes later. Yet again Jeremy Windridge-France showed his natural talent with excellent tackling, getting the man at the legs to stop a strong run from the Salem player. For all their defensive strength Yarnbury were unable to halt a sustained Salem advance and they grabbed their second try on eight minutes. Harvey Coates could have, and should have, levelled the score but was adjudged to have knocked on over the line (referee I this game was his dad - perhaps a meal discussion topic right there eh?). The score was finally levelled right on half time by Teddy Lewty via his typically mazy running.

The second half started where the first left off with Salem the brighter side. Alex Scott put in a superb tap tackle to deny a certain Salem try but was left unrewarded when the tackled player immediately planted his face in the grass and the referee stopped play due to his grass-infused facial injury. Revenge was sweet for Salem, for despite the uphill slope, they ran in three unanswered tries to take the game into the final minute whereupon Rory Cobb grabbed Yarnbury's last try in the final act of the game. The result; 15-25 Salem win