Our Weekly League Round-Up

Of the games played on January 13^th three were Yorkshire County derbies and just one Roses clash. 

Hull RUFC posted their biggest win for a long time when they defeated bottom side Huddersfield by 60-26 at the Ferens Ground. Hull led 31-0 at the break after playing some fine attacking rugby, scoring five tries which began with a penalty try in the seventh minute.

The second period was much more even with Huddersfield coming more into the game in the final quarter when both sides scored three tries each and the visitors fully deserved their losing bonus point with a try in the 79^th minute. The celebrations from their players after that score was a delight to witness after what they have been through this season. Hull’s lock, Liam Regardsoe was voted Man-of-the Match following a strong game, especially in the line-outs. Hull fly-half and ace goal-kicker was on fine form again with six conversions and one penalty goal.

Over at Dore Moor, Sheffield Tigers shook off a three match run of defeats with a 24-16 win over visitors Otley in a very tight game. Both sides scored two tries each but the Tigers had the match winner in fly-half Will Baker one conversion and four penalty goals. The half-time score was 13-13 and at the end of the game Otley were just one point short of a losing bonus point. Will Baker was awarded the Man-of-the-Match for his efforts. The Tigers are lucky to have such a reliable goal-kicker to stand in for the redoubtable Mark Ireland while he is injured.

League leaders Leeds Tykes still have a 100% unbeaten record after they ran amok to run in ten tries against Hull Ionians at The Sycamores to post a 66-15 win after leading 24-8 at half-time. Ionians battled bravely but were no match for the Tykes in the second period, whose Head Coach Mike Aspinall described his side as “relentless and clinical, especially in the second half”. Hooker Aarin York of Leeds scored a hat-trick of tries between the 39^th and 51^stminutes no mention of the Man-of-the-Match was mentioned in the match report. Hull Ionians have now lost their last eight games which is their worst run of defeats for several years. This match saw the largest attendance of the day with 586 attending.

The single Roses fixture saw Sheffield RUFC travel to Lightfoot Green Lane where they made it seven wins in a row against a very gritty Preston Grasshoppers side who pushed them all the way in a very close encounter which the visitors won by 26-24 after leading 14-12 at the interval. The Hoppers will be wondering where their first home win of the season will come from after this fine effort from their side. The Sheffield scrum-half Elliot Fisher took the Man-of-the-Match award.

Fourth placed Fylde made the long journey to the North-East coast to take on lowly Billingham, who surprised them with a harder game than they might have expected. In a high-scoring game Fylde won the game by 38-25 after leading 19-11 at the Interval. Fylde scored six tries to Billingham’s three but the home side’s first half display could not prevent Fylde from increasing their grip of the game during the second period. Fylde centre, Jordan Dorrington, younger brother of former Hull RUFC forward Ben Dorrington, took the Man-of-the-Match award.

Finally, second-placed Rotherham Titans travelled in to Cheshire to visit Lymm where they took a 29-10 half-time lead. A very competitive home side gave their visitors a  hard time in the second half, out-scoring the Titans by 12-7 for a final score of 36-22, thanks to two late tries in the 64^th and 75^th minutes.  Titans centre Richard Hayes took the Man-of-the-Match award after landing four conversions and a penalty goal..

The missing fixture of the day between Tynedale and Wharfedale is to be played on March 2^nd.

All of these results show that there is no change in the top four positions in the table and no changes in the bottom three. Hull RUFC move up one place from 9^th to 8^th.

The top fixtures this weekend (based on league placings) will see fourth placed Fylde v fifth placed  Wharfedale,  eleventh placed Otley v tenth placed Preston Grasshoppers, and seventh placed Tynedale v ninth placed Lymm.

Ferensian.