Yarnbury 1st XV v Old Crossleyans

match report by John Rawson

Yarnbury were depleated for this return fixture against their close rivals for the this re-organised fixture and accordingly had Captain Jason Avison and wings Joe Pinnick and Graham Maycock unavailable alongwith prop Dan Penman and second row Ian Maycock for this competitive fixture but the replacements showed true Yarnbury spirit in a full blooded encounter at Halifax.The opposition had the fiery player coach starting as pack leader and No8 along with second row Kolade Bobo playing his last game before returning to Spain to play his rugby.Yarnbury brought in prop John Dodgson and Paul Kernick and young Tom Warriner to shore up the second row.The backs were reorganised with versatile Nathan Benton on at full back,Tom O’Brian in the centre for Avison and scrum halves Cameron Newby on the wing and Les Crowther in the actual number 9 slot.

Nobody could have enviseaged the start as referee Leadbeater penalised Yarnbury excessively in the first quarter for holding on in the tackle and being offside which meant they were defending and could not get out of their half of the pitch and were reduced to kicking out of defence.Crossleyans ran in a quick try moving the ball up the slope for full back Callum Dunne going over and converting his own try.A close in penalty quickly followed to open up a 10 point gap before Yarnbury managed to get a hold of the ball and mount some attacking moves.Back row and captain for the day Jimmy Cryan raced through a ruck to score under the posts to shock the home side and silence a vocal home support and stand off Danny Pound converted.

Yarnbury spread defence was working well to stop the home sides big forwards making ground but too many penalties were conceded and Dunne calmly slotted three before the break to give the home side a 16-10 lead.With all the possession from a succession of penalties Crossleyans should have been well out in front but for strong defensive performance from the Horsforth side.

Crossleyans went further ahead after the break again with a try from full back Dunne making the overlap with an unconverted try and then kicked a penalty to extend the lead further.However,Yarnbury were looking dangerous with the little ball that came their way and Martin Rainey continued his scoring in recent games from close in taking over defenders to touch down.Pound converting.The game then became interesting on 60 minutes when a supurb break down the right win by speedy Josh Bateson beating several defenders with pace before being pulled down near the line only for supporting wing forward George Bowen claiming the ball from the tackle and scoring Danbury's third try.Pound pulling the attempted conversion wide
to close the scores to 24 –22.It was anybody’s game at this stage with Crossleyans continuing to spread the paly and winger James Wainwright getting several chances to run at the defence but on this day Yarnbury tackled like demons stopping Crossleyans from getting their third try until the final minutes when the impressive Ryan Hammond twisted over close in to put the points out of the reach of the Horsforth side and no bonus point for a terrific effort.

With this spirit and commitment Yarnbury stand fourth in the table and will be a tough prospect for the remaining opponents this season.