Baildon 40 pts vs OORUFC 0 pts
On a pitch in surprisingly good condition,
‘Ensians started up the slope against the wind with two last-minute
changes. Having been one of only two sides to beat Baildon earlier in the
season, ‘Ensians knew that they had a lot on their plate to repeat this
achievement against a side currently lying in second place, pushing league
leaders Wath.
In the scrums the visiting front row of Tony Myers, James Kear and Ben
Newall managed to have the nudge in the first few scrums and half backs
Sam Featherstone and Carlos Hassan tried to get their backs moving.
Baildon responded with convincing defence in mid-field and then fielded a
speculative kick to set up a good move to produce a try wide out on 7
minutes.
The visitors responded with some robust forward drives up field with the
back row of Collum Hanogue, Rob Arbuckle and Lee O’Donnell always to the
fore. ‘Ensians previously solid scrum started to struggle and the home
back row made life difficult for scrum half Sam Featherstone. Baildon
backs used the good supply of ball well with searching kicks into the
corners. Visiting backs Kristian and Nick Keinhorst, Dom Oddy ,John Ratahi
and Josh Howarth tackled resolutely, but the sustained pressure resulted
in two converted penalties on 19 and 27 minutes to give the hosts an 11 –
0 lead as half time approached.
With the benefit of wind and slope to come after the break, ‘Ensians would
have been fairly satisfied with this score-line, but slick interpassing
between home forwards and backs set up a converted try on 38 minutes to
stretch their lead to 18 – 0 at the break.
From the re-start, the visitors gained ground with long kicks from full
back Kristian Keinhorst and Ratahi, who had taken over at fly half.
However, a series of penalties against ‘Ensians enabled Baildon to set up
an attacking position in the corner which yielded an unconverted try,
extending their lead to 23 – 0 on 46 minutes.
The hosts now had their tails up and when they mounted a sweeping move up
the slope, ‘Ensians transgressed and the penalty lifted the score to 26 –
0 on 50 minutes. For the visitors Andy Hayward replaced Hassan in the
centre and Brett Tenniswood came on for the injured Arbuckle. ‘Ensians
came back with some robust forward play by Hanogue, lock Alan Harker, prop
Tony Myers and No. 8 Lee O’Donnell. Unfortunately, the territorial
advantage could not be turned into points due to a combination of solid
Baildon defence and a lack of co-ordination in attack at crucial moments.
The home side then got their speedy young backs moving once more and on 70
minutes good support play gave them a try which took the score to 33 – 0
with the conversion. Baildon continued to exert pressure in the visitors’
22. An untidy scrum on the line saw the ball squirt loose, but when the
‘Ensians defence dived on it to set up a ruck, the referee, perhaps rather
harshly, adjudged that the ball was not out and awarded a penalty try,
taking the score to 40-0 on the final whistle.
Although the score might have slightly flattered the hosts, Baildon
produced frequent periods of well-coordinated rugby throughout, with
forwards and backs linking well together. For their part, ‘Ensians gave a
gutsy performance, but were unable to put together moves to turn their
limited opportunities into points
OORUFC 2ndXV vs Sheffield Tigers
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