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