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

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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

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