Ten out of Ten! Morley's run continues

Morley continue winning run with 8 try victory over Bradford and Bingley.

{Photo shows the Morley Man of the Match - Kenny Sewell who had an outstanding game.}

Morley extended their run of victories to 10 with a 48-7 drubbing of Bradford and Bingley.

The Bees were the best side to play Morley in the first half of the season and their first half performance at Scatcherd Lane in November was a masterclass in how to play rugby. However, Morley bettered that performance with a controlled passion from the forwards which simply steamrollered B&B into submission. There was no respite when the ball was given air and sent to the backs. With Ellis’s “route 1” approach to rugby and Baylis’s quick-fire hands and feet, the Bees struggled to cope with the variety and range of attacking options which Morley used against them. The Morley back three were equally dangerous; especially the young wing Finlay Dewar who was a threat whenever he had the ball.

Morley’s task was made easier due to the fact that B&B were issued with 6 yellow cards and 2 penalty tries as a result of Morley’s dominance in the pack. Captain Tom Booth received his second yellow card in the 74th minute and this resulted in a red card.

B&B did have some good spells, but the game was played mainly in their half and with Morley in possession. B&B’s try came against the run of play when Morley tried a little too hard to keep the ball in play and a loose pass went to ground. With the strong wind and slope in their favour, B&B hacked on the ball and wing Aaron Magee ran away to score with scrum half Lance Taylor converting.

This brought the score to 7 – 17 on 28 minutes. Morley previously had dominated play with a patient forward battle. Brandan Hannam scored the first try on 3 minutes with a blockbusting run after a good break and superb offload from Bradley Freeman.

The backs took a turn for the second try as Kenneally and Baylis broke from deep. Dewar was caught the first time but as the ball was recycled he outflanked the defence, committed the fullback and passed inside to the evergreen Karl Bradshaw who had come off the other wing to race in to score.

A further try went begging after Dewar had joined Bradshaw down the right wing, before the forwards got involved with a series of scrums on the right hand touch line. After several resets, the referee finally awarded a penalty try and issued Tom booth with the first yellow card. 17 – 0 on 24 minutes.

After the surprise of B&B’s try, Morley regained control with Sewell and Chester in the driving seat behind a dominant pack. As the clock moved steadily to half time, Morley increased the temp to gain the important fourth try. A scrum on the left give Nick Green a chance but he was pulled down just short. Shannon and Phipps did their muscular best to get over the line but it was left to Brad Freeman to claim try number 4 in second minute of added time. There was just time for the B&B No. 8 to get a yellow card for interfering in the build-up and for Chester to kick his first conversion of the day as Morley ended the half 24 – 7 in front.

Morley started the second half with the slight slope and strong wind in their favour. Once again the B&B pack were put under pressure in the scrum and suffered two yellow cards in the 50th and 54th minute as scrum half Taylor and then prop Bentley upset the referee. Sandwiched between these two incidents, Nick Green finally got the try he deserved from a push over try.

The wind did not assist Morley a great deal, but the slope helped the running of Baylis, Dewar and Kenneally. Their fine running aided by Brad Freeman should have brought a try on the right wing but over elaboration or a touch of white line fever meant the chance was lost. However, the attack had attracted the defence to the right and there was no one at home when Dewar danced his way down the centre to claim Morley’s sixth try. Chester decided to kick this conversion and Morley had stretched their lead to 36 – 7

More pressure in the scrum brought the familiar sight of the referee heading first to the posts to signal a penalty try for Morley and then to his pocket to show the yellow card to prop Wederell. 43 – 7 on 70 minutes.

The final score came from Morley’s industrious no. 6 Brad Freeman who was on hand to punish an under strength B&B pack with a push over try. Tom Booth had received his second yellow a couple of minutes earlier for a scrum offence. Chester was off the field at this stage so it was left to Baylis to miss the conversion and leave the score tantalizingly close to the magic half century at 48 – 7.

There was just time for a final sparkling break from Baylis and George Kelly which looked a certainty for try number 9 but the pass was dropped and chance missed.

Morley were very happy with their performance and the result. With all the top four clubs winning with bonus points, any other result would have been the end of Morley’s faint promotion chances. The league has a week’s break next Saturday and rugby action will resume on March 23rd.

Morley have no realistic chance of catching Morpeth who are 10 points in front with Pocklington, Driffield, Consett and Morley still to play. However there is a glimmer of a chance to catch 2nd place Scarborough, but it is not fully in our hands.

Scarborough visit Scatcherd Lane on March 23 in a match which Morley must win to have any chance of a playoff position. Even then, Scarborough will have to drop additional points and Morley keep up their remarkable run.

It will be very a very difficult match for Morley as Scarborough sit on 84 points compared to Morley’s 78. Scarborough put Morley to the sword during Morley’s run of poor form when they beat Morley 50 points to 17 despite Morley opening the scoring.

After the Morley match, Scarborough have a much easier final 3 games and must be favourites for 2nd place. They face Percy Park at home before travelling to Malton and Norton and their final match is at home against Bradford and Bingley. Morey have to travel to face local rivals Cleckheaton who will be fighting for their North 1 East position, face 4th placed Huddersfield YM in the final home game before heading North to take on league leaders in the last match of the season. A daunting prospect.

It’s almost impossible for Morley to get to the play off, but the spirit in the camp is good and coaches and players will spare no effort in an attempt to do the impossible.

Scatcherd Lane will be the place to be on March 23rd!

Summary of events from the B&B web site - adjusted with some changes to Morley names.

 02:00 TRY 1 0 – 5 Brandon Hannam scores for Morley
 03:00 MISSED CONVERSION Mark Chester misses a conversion for Morley
 10:00 TRY 2 : 0 – 10 Karl Bradshaw scores for Morley
 11:00 MISSED CONVERSION Mark Chester misses a conversion for Morley
 21:00 SUB OFF Ryan Wederell is substituted off for Bradford & Bingley
 21:00 SUB ON William Booth is substituted on for Bradford & Bingley
 22:00 CONVERSION 0 – 12 Conversion for Morley
 22:00 PENALTY TRY Try 3 Penalty try awarded to Morley
 23:00 YELLOW CARD Tom Booth is yellow carded for Bradford & Bingley
 28:00 TRY 5 – 17 Aaron Magee scores for Bradford & Bingley
 29:00 CONVERSION 7 – 17 Lance Taylor kicks a conversion for Bradford & Bingley
 32:00 SUB OFF William Booth is substituted off for Bradford & Bingley
 32:00 SUB ON Ryan Wederell is substituted on for Bradford & Bingley
 40:00 +2:00 TRY 4 7 – 22 Bradley Freeman scores for Morley
 40:00 +3:00 CONVERSION 7 – 24 Mark Chester kicks a conversion for Morley
 40:00 +3:00 YELLOW CARD Tom Cummins is yellow carded for Bradford & Bingley

 End of period 1

 40:00 SUB OFF Jarman Langton is substituted off for Bradford & Bingley
 40:00 SUB ON Corey Spencer is substituted on for Bradford & Bingley
 46:00 MISSED PENALTY Mark Chester misses a penalty for Morley
 50:00 SUB OFF Adam Sutcliffe is substituted off for Bradford & Bingley
 50:00 SUB ON Matevz Kadunc is substituted on for Bradford & Bingley
 50:00 YELLOW CARD Lance Taylor is yellow carded for Bradford & Bingley
 54:00 TRY 5 7 – 29 Nick Green scores for Morley
 54:00 YELLOW CARD Will Bentley is yellow carded for Bradford & Bingley
 55:00 MISSED CONVERSION Mark Chester misses a conversion for Morley
 58:00 SUB OFF Max Mountain is substituted off for Bradford & Bingley
 58:00 SUB ON William Booth is substituted on for Bradford & Bingley
 64:00 TRY 6 7 – 34 Finlay Dewar scores for Morley
 65:00 CONVERSION 7 – 36 Mark Chester kicks a conversion for Morley
 70:00 PENALTY TRY Try 7 Penalty try awarded to Morley
 70:00 YELLOW CARD Ryan Wederell is yellow carded for Bradford & Bingley
 71:00 CONVERSION 7 – 43 Conversion for Morley
 74:00 YELLOW CARD Tom Booth is yellow carded for Bradford & Bingley
 74:00 RED CARD Tom Booth is sent off for Bradford & Bingley (2nd yellow)
 76:00 TRY 8 7 – 48 Bradley Freeman scores for Morley
 77:00 MISSED CONVERSION Harrison Baylis misses a conversion for Morley

Updated 22:50 - 29 Aug 2019 by Dennis Elam