York were fired up fearing Hallam would send down a much strengthened 3^rd XV. After a strong start it wasn’t long before Morty was able to show his class and put Felgate through for a try. After the first 5 minutes York lead 7-0. York applied pressure on Hallam for the entire first quarter and proved totally dominant all over the field. Following some great hands by Garmston who off-loaded in the tackle Felgate went through for his second try in less than 10 minutes. Again Morty added the necessary points. York were by now proving totally dominant and a few minutes later Tom Bummer Morris was able to score running a great line off the back of a very dominant York scrum. Hallam now lifted their game and after a penalty gave them good positioning in our 22 Hallam were able to score in the corner. Around the twenty minute mark though York hit back with an excellent training ground move which saw Ryan Johnston score and Morty add the respective points. However that was RJ’s only moment of glory in a day where he dropped more catches than the FM drinks pints on a Wednesday. RJ secured himself dick of the day triumphantly by sabotaging York’s efforts of really building an emphatic win in a fashion not seen since Spanky got injured.

It was now that Johnson got subbed on despite carrying numerous injuries from Monday night’s game because the sneakiest and quickest of men in York had to leave the field due to a blister. York still had a total strangle-hold on the game and after a well executed line-out York got the push on and the excellently marshalled drive by Redshaw saw the Yorkies force their way over the line with CRM touching down. It wasn’t long before York were back with a good position and managed to dominate the Hallam scrum and winning the penalty Wissen went for the line side-stepping the first defender, handing off the second, pirouetting around the third and finally dropping his shoulder and carrying the final defender the final ten metres of his excellent dash from the half-way line to score (or at least that is how he was heard explain his try to a pretty girl later that night in the ziggy’s champagne lounge). Regardless Wissen’s crash over the line from 5 metres out saw him add his name to the team sheet and mark the first day in UYRUFC history that both props scored in the same outing. York concluded the first half convincingly 47-5 ahead.

A tired second team still not fully recovered from Monday night’s very physical game against Sheffield Hallam 2^nd XV grew a little weary in the second half and the scoring rate dropped. Following some early pressure from Hallam York were soon deep in their territory and another catch and drive from Hallam saw Johnson break away from the maul with Tate and get the off-load in the tackle to Woody who went over the line to score. 45 minutes of rugby played and York’s lead was 54-5. York were soon bustling the Hallam lines again and T-bag showing his outrageous gas scored again to bring York to 59 points. Redshaw having had a good game picked up a bad knock and had to be substituted for Rich Welsh seeing George Wissen move into the 2^nd row. Tilney also came on to replace Bummer due to injury. York were still proving dominant and a bit of an overzealous pursuit of a hat-trick saw Felgate ignore the overlap and lose the ball in a turn-over. York backs were towards the end of the game proving to be a little selfish in their hunt for tries, and the forwards soon got in on the act with Rishi unfortunately knocking it on after a good run with around 10 minutes left. The game ended with Pete Terraga scoring again to find his way to a hat-trick and Morty having kicked 8 out of 10 conversions concluded the game 66-5.

York 2nd XV:

1.Reid-Milligan, 2.Garmston, 3.Wissen, 4.Redshaw, 5.Quick, 6.Crosse, 7. Holder-Williams, 8.Tate, 9.Wood, 10.Mortimer, 11.Johnston, 12.Pollen, 13.Felgate, 14. Terrager, 15.Morris, 16.Johnson, 17.Rishi, 18.Welsh, 19.Gabriel, 20.Tilney

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After an emphatic victory away from home against Newcastle, the team were confident that under the stewardship of Tate, they could truly stamp their mark on 22 acres parachuting themselves to league leader’s. Yet what the bumble-bees hadn’t accounted for was that the Hallam Captain had resorted to buggery and was sleeping with the ‘independent’ referee who proved more biased than Andre Watson in the 2003 World Cup final. Nevertheless the Yorkies came out firing and were soon building momentum in the Hallam 22.

It was then that an endless-run of penalties began against the men in black and yellow. No fools, the Hallam boys were able to exploit this with some good lines and an accurate kicking boot. Indeed it was on the end of one of these kick’s that the seemingly tireless ‘man-mountain’ Phil Johnson found himself, and showing more agility than Billy Elliott he pirouetted past tackler after tackler before finally being brought down. Unfortunately this display of excellence lead to Johnson being carried from the pitch in the latest run of ankle injuries that are running rife through the 2nd XV ranks. This lead to new boy Jordan Huey-Abbott taking an increased role in the line-outs as main-jumper, a task he didn’t shy from. With the help of the ‘white Mark Henry’ CRM soon had the Hallam pack marching backwards, and with a successful series of back moves, supplied excellently by Woody, it was not long before space opened up on the wings and the inevitable happened: Usain Bolt scored in the corner. Carmony’s effort at the posts was commendable but unfortunately just wide.

The seemingly impenetrable York defence now faltered after a series of heavy hit’s most notably coming from the open-side Morrison and the most feared man in UYRUFC history, a man who can slam a revolving door, a man who drinks lighter-fluid at the half time break, the man who spear-tackles during touch sessions, the man responsible behind every major assassination in world history: the one and only loose cannon. This momentary blip in what league 3B has duped the ‘Great Wall of China’ saw Hallam find the line in the corner, levelling the scores at 5-5. Just before the half-time whistle Hallam slotted a penalty to lead 8-5.

The second half began with a period of truly brilliant rugby which saw both sides going at each other like two opposing packs of rabid dog’s fighting over a leg of lamb, a sight that can also be likened to Jock Miles homing in for the kill on a Ziggy’s night. A guiley kick into the corner from Hallam, resulted in one of their few pieces of clean line-out ball, and following a well executed back’s move, Hallam found themselves just 5 metres from the line, which their forwards eventually crashed over. It was now that York erupted into life following a powerful talk from Will Tate that the Yorkie warriors again found themselves relentlessly hammering the Hallam lines of defence.

This period of passionate rugby is one for the York 2nds to remember and strive to emulate at a later date, and despite the referee’s best efforts, nobody could stop Terraga scoring in the corner. It was now that the management had a blip, waiting until Carmony had taken the kick before subbing on James Mortimer whose kicking game is second to none, and can reputedly shoot pheasant with just a rugby boot and ball. Shortly after the kick off Hallam were awarded another penalty which they kicked and despite the ball swinging wide of the posts, the referee, in perhaps his most controversial move of the day, awarded Hallam the points to give them a lead of 16-10. With the 1st XV now arriving on the sideline the final ten minutes was a period of total York domination, and only some commendable last ditch-attempt tackles from Hallam prevented what many watching thought was a forgone conclusion, a match winning Yorkie try. A good side, but one to beat in the next encounter.

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Another intense battle was awaiting York 1^st XV, this time against Sheffield Hallam away. After a very early start in which York arrived early to Sheffield, the team enjoyed watching some girls hockey for some relaxation in which Ben Innes and Richard Welsh became acquainted with some of the Hallam ladies. After seeing the Hallam girls destroy a very (very) poor York St John side it was into the changing room and out onto the pitch for the warm up.

Knowing that the side they were about to face were relegated from the league above last year York did not know what to expect when battle commenced but with a sense of invincibility about York not loosing a single game in the 2008-2009 season the team was lined up and ready for the challenge.

Early play saw York try to go wide but the drift defence from Hallam was strong and panic set about the team. When a chip went over-the-top of the York defence, and a lucky bounce followed, Hallam took the lead with a try in the corner, the men knew that this was going to be the challenge they had been looking for all last year. With the defence broken twice more in the first half, York were seemingly outplayed by Sheffield going into the break. 21-0.

The halftime talk from Alex Redshaw and comments from the coach, showed a belief in the players, a will to step up and show Hallam why the UYRUFC were in 1a, and the second half did just that.

Gruffudd Jones and Michael James started making breaks in the centres, Rupert and Innes started running their lines and disrupting the Hallam Defence with great support shown be Rory McGregor and Thomas Weir.

Finally continuity was developing into the 1^st XV, the phases began to build up and York starting playing the rugby they had in the previous season. The pack were shoving Hallam off every scrum, chewing them at every opportunity, James Stone seemingly coming on and making all the difference but well supported by Rupert Grant and Ben Innes at the front.

With scrum after scrum going our way it was left to Thomas Weir, the scoring representative of the forwards, to seemingly stroll over the line from the 5 metre line to lift York with their first try, with spirits lifted, York saw a chance. Unfortunately another Hallam try followed after some missed tackles in defence one again cost York dearly.

Not letting this put the team down the forwards once again showed strength by dominating the front and this lead to a forwards try, scored by our winger Peter Nathan. Hallam then continued this spell of pressure and scored once more. With the score 35-10 York were not finished. The team were not going to leave Sheffield without making a mark and stepping up like they had done before.

With minutes left Robert Grant looked wide, and with a flurry of offloads and quick ball resulted in Thomas Bugge beating his man and putting Michael James in to score York’s final try.

The defeat was a massive blow to a York team that has grown used to success but the impressive second half performance should fill them with confidence for an exciting the return game at 22 acres on the 09/12/2009. Final score 35-17

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