National 2 North fixtures played on February 17th included three Yorkshire County derbies and just one Roses encounter.
Rotherham Titans were at home to Sheffield RUFC in a second against third game and the two in-form sides came together in a tough and gruelling South Yorkshire derby which the Titans won by 32-14 after leading by 22-7 at half-time. They scored five tries to Sheffield’s two, three of them in the first half and in a much closer second half were able to deny their visitors any hopes of a come-back. The attendance for this top three clash was only 253, which was low for the league placings of the two clubs and probably a big disappointment for the Titans finance director. The man-of-the-match was the Titans flanker Harry Newborn who scored two tries.
Sheffield Tigers were given a very hard game by lowly Huddersfield who led 22-10 at the break Huddersfield scored six tries to the Tigers four in a much improved display and were leading by 32-24 before a very late converted try by Karl Garside plus an added time penalty goal by Will Baker gave the home side a most unlikely looking 34-32 victory. Sheffield’s lock Alex Dawson was voted man of the match.
Wharfedale produced a dominant display in their home game against Hull Ionians, racing into a 20-0 lead by the break and adding another nineteen points during the second half. Ionians played well in the second period to score nineteen points but the try tally of six to three in Wharfe’s favour proved to be conclusive in the 39-19 result as the Dalesmen kept their fourth place intact. Their hooker, Robbie Collinson, took the man-of-the-match award.
In the only Roses encounter Preston Grasshoppers were no match for league leaders Leeds Tykes who ran in six tries to the Hoppers two. They led by 28-14 at the interval and continued their dominance in the second half to post a 45-14 victory. The Hoppers never gave up the battle on a rain-soaked afternoon but the gap in pure class was again demonstrated by the Tykes who maintained their 100% record after 19 matches.
Fifth in the table Fylde travelled to seventh placed Tynedale and were decisively beaten by 45-22 following a very close first period which ended with them holding a 12-10 lead. Fylde’s discipline faltered badly in the second period when they conceded two penalty tries, two yellow cards and a red card. Tyne scored seven tries to four after an entertaining game before the Division’s largest attendance (450) of the day. The Tyne back-rower Rob Parker was declared man of the match.
Hull RUFC travelled north-east to Billingham to play the third from bottom side and after leading 12-10 at the interval they ran out winners by 30-24. In a very even and entertaining game which saw the lead change hands several times, the Hull side won a game which could have gone either way. Hull scored five tries to their hosts three with Hull skipper and centre Ali Heard taking the man-of-the-match award.
Finally, the Lymm v Otley game was a very close and tense encounter which Lymm won by 15-14 after leading 10-0 at half-time. Lymm scored three unconverted tries against Otley’s two converted tries in yet another game which could have gone either way. The Lymm centre Steve Pilkington was awarded the man-of-the-match honours.
The placings at the top of the table remain unchanged with runaway leaders Leeds Tykes and Rotherham Titans well ahead of the chasing field. Leeds are now on 94 points with Rotherham on 83 but still with a game in hand. The Leeds scoring difference is 482 with Rotherham well adrift at 326. Sheffield RUFC are on 70 points and Wharfedale on 62 points.
In the nether regions, Lymm have moved from 11th to 10th with 38 points to be replaced by Preston Grasshoppers on 36 points, Billingham and Hull Ionians are both on 27points with Billingham on minus 172 points difference and Ionians on minus 216 points difference. Huddersfield are bottom on 16 with minus 402 points difference.
Next week only two games are regarded as top games (as per league placings) when 13th placed Hull Ionians entertain 10th placed Lymm and 3rd placed Sheffield RUFC take on 7th placed Tynedale. All the other games should go to the sides with the superior placings. Or maybe not!!
Ferensian.
HULL RUGBY UNION FOOTBALL CLUB 