The second and last of York’s warm up games before Roses saw them travel south to take on Bradford Salem. A warm day promised perfect conditions for running rugby, which would certainly play to York’s strengths against a predominantly older and slower Bradford Salem side. The late arrival of a, special guest, complete with wifebeater, bolstered the York pack and allowed Rupert Grant to start on the bench, so not risk his calf injury. The absence of a referee meant that one of the Bradford Salem players had to take his place, not ideal but York were ready to deal with the adversity.

The game started with Bradford kicking to York. Tom Weir pounced on a dropped ball and a strong backline move advanced York 40m up the pitch, despite a late hit on William Felgate, laying down their intentions for the rest of the match. York continually looked to run the ball and play positive rugby and after about ten minutes this resulted in Sam Morrison streaking down the wing to score under the posts, Robert Grant duly added the conversion. The rugby was all with York and only a lack of accuracy with some of their passing meant they didn’t add more points straight after. However they did not have to wait too long as good pressure from the York forwards resulted in Ash Alexander burying his way over, again Grant with the conversion. Great work at the breakdown by Alistair Handy and Alex Redshaw saw York gaining the majority of the possession giving the likes of Michael James and Felgate a platform to perform. A sliced clearance by Bradford and a wayward lineout throw meant Morrison collected the ball to power over for his second score under the posts, Grant added the extras.

York continued to test the Bradford defence making a number of breaks, a flowing move involving T. Bugge and M. James saw Rich Bremner put through into space (whilst performing his trademark move) which he then exploited to run away untouched to score York’s fourth try, Grant once again scored the conversion. A fine first half performance from York was finished off by Michael James as he broke through the Bradford defence with a well chosen back-line move to score just before the break. However the try was largely overshadowed by the punch suffered by Robert Grant as he jogged over to take his place kick, leaving M. James to put the 2 points up on the board. York refused to lower themselves to the level of their opposition and headed into the interval with their discipline intact.

Half time changes saw Rory Mcgregor on for Ash Alexander, Ollie Tilney on for William Felgate, Alistair Handy off for Rupert Grant and Ed Drewett on for Rob Grant. York started the second half as they had left the off from the first, dominating Bradford at the scrum and breakdown with only a lack of penetration hindered them from immediately adding to their tally. A flowing move involving ‘the Special Guest’, Ollie Tilney and Weir resulted in Rupert having a five metre run into the line, Tim Walker, taking over from Grant, then kicked the conversion. A tired Bradford Salem side were now visibly suffering in the set piece particularly at the scrum where the appearance of Rupert coupled with Stone and Chris Milligan was causing Bradford all sorts of trouble. Morrison had to give way to Ash Alexander after suffering a shoulder injury, before some great work by the York backs gave Gabriel Adebiyi the opportunity to turn on the speed and head straight under the posts, Walker again adding the extra two points.

The match threatened to boil over at several points but the York discipline held fast and they did not allow themselves to succumb to the Bradford way of playing. After a failed kick for touch by the Salem kicker, the ball found its way to the hands of Bugge, who used his speed, pace and maybe his height to find the many gaps between the Bradford side to go over under the posts, he then drop goaled the conversion to make the score 56-0. The final points were added when good strength by M. James and G. Adebiyi in defense, enabled G. Adebiyi to rip the ball off the opposition flanker and find himself in enough space to run unopposed from 30m out, he also added the conversion.

After a failed attempt at the posts by the Salem fly-half, the match was ended ten minutes from time. York had proven themselves against a much weaker opposition, showing their discipline, cutting edge and class. It means they head into their Roses game on Sunday with a 100% record in the warm up games. Bring on Lancaster.

UYRUFC 1st XV 63 – 0 Bradford Salem 2s


Team vs Bradford Salem

1. James Stone
2. Chris Reid Milligan
3. Special Guest
4. Alexander Redshaw (cpt)
5. Alistar Handy
6. Ash Alexander
7. Sam Morrison
8. Tom Weir
9. Tim Walker
10. Robert Grant
11. Gab Adebiyi
12. William Felgate
13. Michael James
14. Richard Bremner
15. Thomas Bugge

16. Rupert Grant
17. Rory McGregor
18. Ed Drewett
19. Oliver Tilney

Bookmark It

Hide Sites

The Roses campaign got off to a winning start as a fast and skilful University side took on a strong and physical local York team. A mixed team made up of both first and second team players saw Matthew Pollen starting at fly-half and he took his chance well making a series of exquisite breaks before finishing outright for the Universities first try, a missed conversion making it 5-0. The university continued in strong form and did not allow a much bigger York side to bully them. After further attacking prowess a fine break allowed Tom Weir to go over between the posts, a late shoulder charge on TW by their 10 only resulted in injurying his own player as Weir squashed him against the posts. The conversion by Tom Bugge made the score 12-0 to York, a great start by a side that hadn’t played for over a month.


Strong interplay by the University continued to put pressure on the York defence and some well executed lines by Will Felgate and Bugge put York in a strong position inside the opposition 22. Tim Walker saw the gap and took it then passing back into the centre for Michael James to score underneath the posts, the conversion somehow missed. Speaking with the kicker after the match he said “I struck the ball correctly, just in the wrong direction…”


Despite strong play by the University forwards with some huge tackles by Alistar Handy and Will Tate, York were allowed back into the match when they went over from close range making the score 17-5. The university were beginning to let their guard down and despite still having a faster and more skilful backline they were unable to give quality ball to the wingers Richard Bremner and Gabriel Adebiyi. A cameo performance from Sam Carr-Archer, on for the hard-working Will Forsythe, was not enough to stop the power of the York forwards. Their superiority in size was allowing them to continually get over the gain line and some weak tackling from the University meant they found themselves conceding another try. The University hit back though when a period of great play saw Arkan go over for a try just before the break making the score 22-10 at half time.


The second half saw the University side make a number of changes with Bugge and Walker off, Sam Morrison on for Tate, Zervakis on for Brian Blessed and Forsythe back on for Redshaw. The second half started brightly for the university as they established some great field position with a host of kicks to the corner, unfortunately lack of accuracy in the lineout meant they found these efforts of territory fruitless. Some great tackling by MJ gave the University a lifeline after excellent play by York, but ill discipline meant the University were unable to sustain any intensity. The University team were being bullied in the scrums and this York superiority was being established in all areas of play as a York backline, seemingly hiding their pace in the first half, went over for a try to make the score 22-15 to the university following a missed conversion. The pace and interplay of York was causing all sorts of trouble for the University and despite strong cover tackling by Guy Holder-Williams and Morrison they were unable to stop York going over for another try, the score now just 22-20 to York. Another York RC score made it 22-27 to the home team and some strong words were exchanged underneath the posts as the University looked to re-establish themselves as the dominant team.


The return of Alexander Redshaw sparked some impetus and urgency into the Universities play as they won a lineout on Yorks 5m line. Redshaw himself then powered over to score. A superb conversion by Tom Morris from the touch line saw the University back into the lead at 29-27. Great effort and endeavour by the entire team saw them mix tenacity in defence with some classy breaks in attack, both Bugge and Ed Drewett putting the York defence under strain. A scrum, the Achilles heel of the university all day, saw UYRUFC with the opportunity to put the ball out and win the game but the ambition of the University saw them opt to the run before a turnover allowed York one last chance of victory. However great defence by the university meant they were able to withstand a last minute push by York. Ultimately a penalty won by the Ash Alexander (a.k.a. “The Dark Lord”) saw UYRUFC able to kick the ball out and hang on for victory. It was an impressive performance by a University side who had not played for six weeks and it put a marker down on a Roses match less than two weeks away. Great win for UYRUFC

Bookmark It

Hide Sites

York just needed the draw today to win the league outright, however with Varcity fever nobody was expecting anything other than an outright win. With that in mind the first ten minutes were terrible, York were not switched on and allowed a bigger team’s physicality bully them off the ball. Indeed York were in disarray finding themselves 7-0 down and un-sure what had really happened. An embarrassed team were given stern words by Captain Tate after ill discipline cost them another three points. Firing York back-up was only half hearted however, and despite spending the next five minutes in the St John’s 22, the clinical precision of York’s attacking lines was totally off-colour and the stalwart second team were panicking for the first time all season. It was only thanks to an excellent off-load by Woody and Morty’s superb boot that York were able to add any points to the board. York’s troubles were far from over however as a frustrated Captain spear-tackled the St John’s no.12 and received a sin-binning. Indeed with only 14 men York were soon back in their 22 and again were looking shaky without the calming influence of Will Tate. It was only thanks to some poor hands with their no.8 knocking it on that a try wasn’t conceded here. St John’s did leave with some points however as York were un-able to clear their lines and eventually conceded a penalty for handling on the floor.

It was now, finally finding themselves 10 points down for the second time in the match that York remembered how to play rugby. With a certain sense of desperation York were slowly pulling themselves back into the game, the forwards were winning the backs some clean ball and it wasn’t long before RJ was able to celebrate St.Paddy’s day with a 30 metre break down the right wing. Rishi started to resemble himself and was starting to make his usual thudding runs from eight and smashed their wing securing York good ball. The half ended though with another dampener for York though as Phil Johnson was forced to leave the field due to a recurring ankle injury. Still Sam Carr-Archer is a more than a worthy replacement and was soon proving himself to be a real menace for the St John’s line-out.

With Tate now back on the field, optimism had returned to the side-lines and York’s some fifty supporters were doing their best to inflate the 2nds. Unfortunately the half time break had the opposite effect and York’s defence was crumbling in the openign encounters of the second half. York were even losing line-out  ball (an extreme rarity) after Garmy valiantly, but stupidly declined to leave the field despite suffering a bad shoulder injury. The change came just after York St.John scored again and the conversion lead to an uncomfortable score-line of 20-3. The Dark Lord had one of his best games from the bench in a UYRUFC jersey and was making a big impression on the game. Tilney also came on around the sixty minute mark for Bummer who had struggled to find his usual form all game, and CRM was brought on to try and shore-up what was now a misfiring York scrum. The impact of these changes were positive and the remaining twenty minutes of rugby was the first time the York team actually started playing all match. In what was a slightly odd but in the end well deserved try, Woody charged down a catch and then looking slightly dazed fell on the ball to be awarded the try right in the corner. Morty’s kick bounced back off the posts leaving York still 11 points adrift. York were now proving they could beat St John when playing the unique style of bumble-bee fast moving rugby and not the more monotonous crash ball St John’s style of the game. In credit to St John’s however their defensive lines were still proving fairly impregnable and York were failing to turn pressure into points. The best chance of a try came when Woody failed to spot a three (four including him) on two overlap on the blind-side from about 10 metres out.

York again conceded a penalty in a good game position and the St.John’s ten was able to place them almost out of reach at 23-8 up. The next few minutes were agonising as the ball remained in the middle of the park and York failed to add any points and the clock was fast running out of time. Rishi broke this spell with a fantastic pick and go, and the scrambling St John’s defence couldn’t handle the superb hands of the York backline: RJ scored in the corner bringing it to 13-20. Morty narrowly missed the kick. St john’s continual high tackling and off-side infringements were going un-noticed by the referee and seriously prohibiting York’s chances of levelling the score (double standards were being called from the side line after another late and high tackle on Matt Pollen went unnoticed by the referee). York could well have won the game had they been playing just 14 men in the final spell. York were still stepping up the pressure though and winning a penalty on the 22 gave them a good attacking platform 10 metres out. On an ill-fated day the throw was judged not-straight and York left again with no points. There was a final flourish as York hoped to regain some dignity and turning the St John’s scrum it looked as though York might again score but as was the tone of the day, another promising York attack failed to materialise into any points.

St Paddy’s day was a disappointing end to the BUCS season for UYRUFC. Both the 1st team and the 2nd team were judged to have come second in their leagues, despite being tied on overall points and having significantly better points differences than the team judged to have won the league. The 2nds (with far better cause than the 1sts who were only denied promotion on a technicality meaning 3 of their overall points didn’t count) therefore finish the season second in league 3B having played 14, won 11, and lost 3. Their overall points difference is +247.

York 2nd XV:

1.Welsh, 2.Garmston, 3.Shepherd, 4.Forsythe, 5.Johnson, 6.Tate (C), 7.Morrison, 8.Rishi, 9.Wood, 10.Mortimer, 11.Bremner, 12.Pollen, 13.Terrager, 14.Johnston, 15.Morris, 16.Reid-Milligan, 17.Holder-Williams, 18.Carr-Archer, 19.Tilney, 20.Reed, 21. Alexander.

Tries: Woody and Johnston

Drop-goal: Mortimer

Man of the match: Will Forsythe

Man of the Season: Will Tate (C)

Bookmark It

Hide Sites

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

Bookmark It

Hide Sites

This side were full of confidence from their last win against Sunderland, and despite having not played for two weeks, Johnson had stepped up to the mark in training and successfully hit every ruck in the fast moving unopposed drill! In fact however it was reaching the highest point a motorway goes to in the UK on the way over that was one of the few highlights of the day (363 metres I have been reliably informed by team tour guides Bummer & Dark Ash). From the whistle York were given a flavour of things to come: Morty executed a perfect grubber kick to the backs and despite T-Bag collecting the ball a good foot over the 10 metre line, the 2nd XV were pinged by the rather over-weight, slightly homosexual referee who would be better suited to the sex offenders register than the rugby pitch. Indeed some 32 penalties were awarded against York that day of which no more than 5 or 6 were genuine and many totally fictitious – it is only thanks to York’s total domination of territory that the score line was not a lot closer.

The referee was powerless however to penalise York when they were running with ball in hand, and the Huddersfield defence seemed equally ill-equipped to deal with the attacking prowess of York. It was not long before tries started to come. Both Rishi and GHW had fantastic games and were causing problems all across the field for Huddersfield but particularly with ball in hand – they both collected a try. The little hobbit Garmy, always alongside side for the off-load pass capitalised on one of GHW’s devastating run’s and with Gee having beaten most of the field Garmy just had to jog the ball in under the post. Garmston was even more effective with his line-out throwing, in all I believe York only lost around 4 of about forty line out’s with either Captain Tate or SCA getting up just in front of their jumpers every-time, or on the York five man line-out’s the jumpers found themselves virtually unopposed. Another good game was had by the man behind the scenes, Brian Blessed who was making mince meat of the bigger Huddersfield front row.

It was only in the second half that things started to slow a little for York. Matt Pollen having dislocated his finger in the first 15 minutes of the 1^st half was forced to leave the field, but when Mortimer was smashed for around the 10^th time off the ball he went down hard and when un-able to answer either where he was or how many fingers were being held up, he was forced to leave the field. Adam Wood had another excellent game although too, was probably suffering from mild concussion as Huddersfield best palyer, their seven, being given a free license by the referee took every possible opportunity to smash little old man Wood. Indeed at one point when York found themselves penalised 3 consecutive times without any play Wood was so incensed he was found screaming and punching the conversion post shields. Bummer stepped in well at 10, and Tilney made a good come back to the 2nds beign solif in both attack and defence, Abbott had a positive impact off the bench, but in a second half so broken by either penalties or injuries (to both sides) the game was scrappy and there were few truly notable moments.

Tries also came from Niall and Terrager who scored two making it five tries from his last two games, and holds the accolade for opening and ending the scoring in each. Mortimer kicked five of the conversions to bring York to 40 points, only missing one kick from right in the corner.

York 2^nd XV

1.Sheppard, 2. Garmston, 3. Blessed, 4. Carr-Archer, 4. Johnson, 6. Tate, 7. Holder-Williams, 8. Rishi, 9.Wood, 10. Mortimer, 11. Niall, 13. Pollen, 13. Terrager, 14. BOT, 15. Morris, 16. Cross, 17. Huey-Abbott, 18. Alexander, 19.Tilney, 20. Voight.

Bookmark It

Hide Sites

Grey. Dreary. Dismal. Just a small example of a plethora of adjectives available to anyone with a reasonable grasp of the English language to describe today’s opposition and their less than inspiring town. York have already visited the capital of British steel-making once and came away with less than their deserved share of points, and so today, in the rain, York returned to re-establish the natural order of things. As stated, the heavens didn’t provide much motivation for either team, who would have to slip, slide and slither their way through what was to become somewhat of a milestone-match for York, and a bit of a bugger for Sheffield.

Confidence was brewing way before the first whistle blow at 2.00 p.m today with a tremendously successful warm up. The adverse weather conditions and narrow pitch could do nothing to dissuade York that running rugby was still possible, and this was reflected in slick handling and scarcely a dropped ball. By the time the referee had taken his position mid-field, the boys in the bumblebee kit knew they were in for a big one, and they were ready for it. For a brief moment, the clouds parted and sunshine bathed the battlefield in a glorious autumnal glow, and one couldn’t help but feel that Bugge had asked the big man upstairs for a bit of moral support…just to get the boys going.

The first five minutes was a tentative affair with both sides showing signs of nervousness, exacerbated perhaps by the knowledge that it was going to get very muddy out there, very quickly. However, York showed early signs of the excellent midfield defence that stood them in very good stead all day with M.J and Felgate working seamlessly to ensure the Sheffield centres were going nowhere fast. Sheffield seemed well drilled, but excellent work by the back row, (who were fantastic all day), asserted an early dominance around the tackle area that was to prove decisive in today’s victory. Five minutes in and a Sheffield scrum concedes to the prowess of the York front three; quick turnover and some snappy handling saw the ball drift effortlessly along the backline into the hands of Rich Bremner, who had no trouble at all finding the white line. Grant, eyeing up some Sheffield totty on the sideline, missed the conversion.

Somewhat shocked, Sheffield responded to York’s score with some decent patterns of play, but it was short-lived thanks again to the kleptomaniacal tendencies of Messrs Handy, McGregor and Weir. A spate of penalties in York’s favour ended up as a scrum on the opposition 5. A pre-planned shove by the forwards was cruelly interrupted by the devious Tim Sparkleton who burgled the ball from the back row’s feet and dove over the line. Grant secured the conversion and York were back on track in Sheffield.

The second half started promisingly with York kicking well for position. Clever work in the lineout by Redshaw and Forsythe secured good ball in prime attacking territory. Such was the threat that Sheffield conceded a penalty within striking distance of Grant’s boot, and he duly proceeded to put York a further 3 points ahead. However, with York now a full three scores ahead, motivation to really turn the screw on the opposition in increasingly difficult conditions put York on the back foot. Although work-rate was fantastic, and the front three, led by the ever enigmatic Innes began to physically and psychologically cause problems for the opposition scrum, the last 25 was spent somewhat possession-less. York’s kicking at times was aimless, and although the defence ensured no Sheffield players broke through, they had the drive to close out the game and ultimately had the momentum in the last ten minutes. Sheffield scored two tries that, although weren’t gifted, certainly felt that way with the final score at 15-10. However, the ambition and tenacity present on the pitch today marks a milestone in the 09/10 York BUCS squad who, by now, know what they must do in order to be frontrunners for the league title this year. Today, in the rain, York proved that they could play their brand of rugby clinically and in any conditions- a big confidence booster at the half-way stage of the season.

Bookmark It

Hide Sites

After an intense warm up with calls of “half a yard” ringing all around, a sweep of the pitch was conducted to remove as many rocks from the pitch as possible.

The match begins. A huge drop kick was lofted into the clouds by our cameo ten, Will “tape thong” Peters. This was chased by our significant pack and straight away a good platform was set for our backs to attack.
The ball was passed from the base of the ruck and a switch in the centres led to a half break by our inspirational leader Simon “captain” Reed. However, he was caught by the last defender and a maul was set up. Reinforcements arrived and an almighty drive from the 22 followed. The person in control of this was Jack, who at the appropriate time broke away and scored just to the left of the posts.
Will Peters steps up for his first conversion of the season…Success.
York 7 Hull 0.

Set up, ready to catch a kick off the referee stops and throws a boulder off the pitch. Hull’s kick is scuffed and bobbles to Jordan.
He remembers training and spins it wide. Through simple hands the ball is run out of our half. We are set up just past the half way line and a blinder is called, the ball travels straight across the pitch to the winger Niall who is standing wide. So wide…he isn’t even on the pitch.
A lineout is called.
Opposition lineout is stolen and with a simple DSP Reedo scores with ease followed by another nice conversion. York 14 Hull 0.

Rugby becomes slightly scrappy for 10 minutes. We find ourselves defending a scrum in our own half. Yet, fortune is still on our side one of Hull’s props has lost his boot (he continues the rest of the match with just one boot). We win the scrum…their winger is flat…Will looks up and puts a kick through for B,B,B,BOT on the wing. BOT misses the ball, but leading by example Simon scoops up the ball and scores in the corner. Conversion has the direction but falls just short. York
19 Hull 0.

Nearly half time, just the right amount for another score. The kick off is caught and champagne rugby follows. Backs are rucking, forwards are in the back line. Yet, everything clicks and the try is scored by Nial “on the pitch this time” Walsh. Conversion made. HALF TIME. York
26 Hull…still 0.

Half time. Time to get some water on board. If only the freshers filled up the bottles with cold water!

Sides have been swapped and almost immediately, not only are we playing but Simon has scored his hat-trick. Conversion successful.
York 33 Hull 0
Complacency sets in and almost immediately they come back with a try of their own. The drift defence was going so well…York 33 Hull 7.

A stern word has been said. We trundle back up the field. We build up some momentum and win a penalty. Do we kick for touch, go for posts.
No…Will having a quality game takes a quick tap, and fires a cross field kick which lands perfectly in Guesty’s hands. York 40 Hull 7

A lapse in concentration after the restart and a penalty is given away. Hull kick for touch. They are in a good position win the ball and set up a rolling maul. They are on our line they flop over and the ball is dropped by Hull over the line. The referee misses this and another player dives on the ball. The try is given. Will Marwick sees red and begins arguing with the official. The referee shows yellow.
With ten minutes remaining Will “the raging bull” will not get on again. York 40 Hull 12

Down to 14 men is there any magic left in this 3 XIV? A ruck the ball pops out. Like a footballer (yes punishment followed) Joe springs into action putting in a through ball to himself. He adds a step over…and with appropriate downward pressure we arrive at the final score. York
45 Hull 12.

Fantastic effort and a great first win of the season.

Bookmark It

Hide Sites

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.

Bookmark It

Hide Sites

Wednesday was the day chosen for the 3rds to make their stand against Hull 2s, a notoriously strong side.  The lines were drawn and the men were ready to ‘get stuck in’ like a UYRUFCian on Wednesday night Ziggys.  York, were receiving first so everyone assumed their positions as a high kick went straight to ‘Safe hands’ Kearney.

York was immediately hit by a powerful Hull line but it was like water on a rock, the York line held.  The play continued as normal for the next ten minutes until disaster strikes, Tom Morris limps off while York are sitting on their own line, it looks like this might be an opportunity for Hull, but no, the brave Yorkers hold solid and give hull nothing.

Finally after a lengthy stalemate Guesty smashes through for York’s 1^st try, which is neatly converted by Will Peters.  However, this causes York to slack off, which results in a sloppy intercept try. The scores are now level again.  Finally Safe Hands Kearney boshes over the line after York have a well-worked patch of play just before half time. Once again Peters slots it.

At half time there are some stern words said as we realize that we should be all over them. The second half commences with a solid chase and hit. After the first few minutes it is clear that York have found new motive (Ziggys Girls) and are powering on. After about 5 minutes the super subs arrive to reinforce the team, York are looking very strong now. Peters decides to take his chances and nails a quick penalty making the score 17-7. BOT is having a stormer, making a dash up the wing he steps 1, steps 2, dummy, steps 3, magical run.  Finally BOT gets his well-deserved try and gasses over the line. York are now living in Hulls half, a few penalty attempts and near breaks, finally Hull can stand it no more. Guesty puts Reedo through for another York try. The final nail is in the coffin. York starts going through the motions, winding down the game.

The game ends with BOT putting in a huge dump tackle to tumultuous applause, Hull can stand it no more, the final whistle blows, victory York. The final score is 29-7.

Bookmark It

Hide Sites

November 4th saw the first XV continue their 1a season away at Northumbria against their 2nd XV. After a long bus journey shared with the second team the atmosphere was tense and the mood was sombre unaware what they were going to face. After stepping out onto the crisp field of play, the team was roused and ready to do war with physical looking team, and in the early skirmishes York came out on top.

With great defence in the centres including huge hits from Michael James and Gruffudd Jones, and great pressure from the forwards in every contact situation, it was not long before the penalties began to build up in York’s favour. With one attempt missed by Robert Grant he stepped up to put York in the lead with a successful conversion, with a lead taken against them, and the penalty count still rising it was only a matter of time before Northumbria would pay and they did in the form of a sin binning. With the extra man on their side York took the initiative and scored through some more great work from the forwards resulted in Ben Innes crossing the line. After a well taken conversion from Grant York stretched out to a 10-0 lead.

After this York continued to disrupt both lineout and scrum for the opposition another great performance from the forward was lead by Rupert Grant, James Stone and Ben Innes gave the backs the platform they needed to press on. However with the slippery conditions the backs found it hard in the first half to take advantage of the possession and despite good lines from Gruffudd Jones and Thomas Bugge the home side managed to bring them slightly back into the game with a penalty.

The second half started in a similar manner to the first, York continued to dominate both the contact are and the scrum despite the fact that flanker Rory McGregor had to be subbed off due to a culinary injury from the night before. The mood changed in the York camp however, when a spell of pressure led to a try form Northumbria, despite reliant defence throughout the rest of the game a lack of guards around the fringes on a ruck on their five metre line led to the ball ‘apparently’ being placed over the York line.

With the core now at 10-7 York needed to respond and they did, with the ball going wide and Gruffudd Jones and Thomas Bugge breaking through, the ball was set up on the 22 metre line. Seeing the fullback out of position Tim “Sparkleton” Walker placed a delicate chip over the top which was well gathered by William Felgate who then stepped the covering defender and scored. With the initiative back in York’s favour, York continued to press on and despite some indiscipline of their own in which Northumbria were allowed to have a penalty attempt, which was duly put away by their somewhat familiar looking fly half, York were in the ascendency and continued to break the Northumbria defence.

With Ryan Johnson making an impact straight away beating his man on the outside, another try was almost scored when he seemed to put Jones in, however when the covering tackle was made it was up to the forwards to once again do the hard work and put the ball over the line, this time Rupert making the vital last touch, with Grant also making the kick York led 22-10, with two more penalties put away by Grant the score went to 28-10.

With a final push on the Northumbria line York were still not intent on resting on their laurels made another barrage, and after more great work from Alistair “Darkan” Handy and Alexander Redshaw at the breakdown York crossed the line once more, to complete the rout 35-10. And as the sun set on another incredible York performance they were content and looking forward to an enjoyable bus ride home. Score 35 – 10 York Win.

Bookmark It

Hide Sites