Match Report: Yorkshire U17s 36-12 Lancashire U17s
Venue: Queen Ethelburga's College York.
Sunday 17th April 2016
By Gary West
Lancashire arrived at Queen Ethelburga's well before kick-off time which gave the players and staff the opportunity to relax and prepare with a walk around the campus, and excellent facilities, including a first look at the 4G pitch on which they would kick off later this afternoon.
The conditions were blustery, but sunny, and as kick off time drew ever closer, a decent crowd had started to accumulate, with many parents and families from both sides of the Pennines arriving to witness what they hoped would be an exhilarating game of rugby, and they weren't disappointed.
Playing into a reasonably strong wind in the first half, it would transpire that this had little effect on Lancashire, who started extremely well and gained ground from the kick off. An early scrum on the 10 metre line resulted in Lancashire being awarded a penalty inside 3 minutes. Lancashire's well drilled line out was to prove an advantage immediately, as they ended up winning a scrum on the 22, and after great work by Henry Pearson, Alex Leadbetter and Morgan Sword on the left, Jack McCutcheon drove towards the line and touched down to give the visitors an early advantage. Henry Pearson converted the try to give Lancashire a 7-0 lead within 7 minutes.
Five minutes later, Lancashire touched down again, Alex Leadbetter however having his short lived joy spoilt by the referee Richard Arthur who spotted, correctly, a forward pass from Morgan Sword in the build up.
Lancashire didn't have to wait too long for another chance however, Yorkshire number 10 Tom Farrell guilty of holding, which ended up with Lancashire having a line out on the 5 metre line.
The ball was brilliantly distributed, and resulted in a try, not too far from being under the posts, and scored by captain Sam Stott, which left the hosts stunned and with hanging heads. Disappointingly Pearson missed the conversion, hitting the upright, however Lancashire still had a 12-0 lead on 16 minutes.
20 minutes into the first half, the impressive full back Callum Bolton had a surging 40 metre run down the right hand side eventually halted, when perhaps had he overcome one more desperate tackle the line would have been in sight.
Lancashire continued to drive, and to emphasise and give credit to the effort and work ethics of the Red Rose side, Yorkshire created their very first chance, and with the wind at their backs, just 5 minutes before half time. With men over on the outside and the line in sight, Jonty Atkinson was guilty of holding on, and the chance was gone. For Lancashire to be able to hold out 12-0 up, and with the wind to their backs in the second half may have turned out to be crucial, sadly though they couldn't. Yorkshire quickly regained the ball from a line out, and had men over on their left hand side, going over through Rian Hamilton just before the half time whistle. The conversion was missed leaving the half time score at Yorkshire 5-12 Lancashire, in a half dominated by the Lancashire team.
Yorkshire had already played 3 times this season and this was Lancashire's first match, which made the first half performance by Lancashire even more impressive. Sadly for Lancashire things were to change in the second half, however.
Just 8 minutes in, Yorkshire had levelled through a try by Ryan Bolger, converted by Tom Mann, 12-12, and it wasn't long before it got worse for Lancashire, not helped by numerous unusual decisions in the middle of the pitch by Mr Arthur, as Yorkshire scored four further tries, firstly by Rian Hamilton on 55, and then a hat trick of tries by replacement Sam Nunn on 58, 66 and in the 70th minutes, with two conversions being missed giving Yorkshire an unassailable 36-12 lead.
Lancashire should take a lot of credit from this performance, after a particularly brilliant first half performance, and with some outstanding individual displays.
Next up is Cheshire on 24th April at Chester.
Team
1 Alex Lewis-Booth, Kirkham Grammar School & Stockport RUFC
2 Connor Johnson, Myerscough College & Blackburn RUFC
3 Thomas Shorrock, Merchant Taylors, Crosby & Waterloo RUFC
4 Jack Granby, Runshaw College & Tarleton RUFC
5 Joe Hunt, Myerscough College
6 Jack McCutcheon, Myerscough College
7 Jack Woodward, Ashton 6th Form College & Ashton under Lyne RUFC
8 Morgan Sword, Ermysted’s Grammar School & Preston Grasshoppers RUFC
9 Alex Leadbetter, Winstanley College & Leigh RUFC
10 Henry Pearson, Kirkham Grammar School & Fylde RUFC
11 Adam Woosey, Myerscough College & Ormskirk RUFC
12 Matthew Gallagher, Kirkham Grammar School & Sale FC
13 Sam Stott, Lancaster Royal Grammar School & Vale of Lune RUFC (Captain)
14 Giacomo Poli, Merchant Taylors, Crosby
15 Callum Bolton, Myerscough College & Ashton under Lyne RUFC
Bench
16 Declan Norrington, Preston Grasshoppers RUFC
17 Josh Belt, Myerscough College & Kirkby Lonsdale RUFC
18 Ethan Cornick, Loreto Sixth Form College & Trafford MV RUFC
19 Tom Quealy, Altrincham Grammar School & Trafford MV RUFC
20 Kai Smith, Ormskirk VI Form College & Ormskirk RUFC
21 Matthew Bargh, Lancaster Royal Grammar School
22 Ciaran Johnson, Blackpool Sixth Form College & Fylde RUFC
23 Alex Meredith, Audenshaw School & Ashton under Lyne RUFC