In the seven fixtures played on March 23rd two were Yorkshire County derbies and two were Roses clashes.
Starting with the game of the day, the long-awaited face-off between the two top sides in N2N took place at Clifton Lane, the home of Rotherham Titans who welcomed Leeds Tykes and the great rivals produced a game of high drama and quality rugby football in front of a crowd of 1,141. The Titans had the best of the first half, scoring three tries, two of which were converted plus a penalty goal to build up a half-time lead of 22-5.
The Tykes hit back in fine style during the second period to score three converted tries whilst the Titans added two more to their tally for a winning final score of 32-28, thus inflicting the Tykes with their first defeat of the season. The home side were down to 13 men at one stage when Jack Bergamanas and Zak Poole were yellow-carded.
Going into the final quarter the Titans had a 27-12 lead before the Tykes hit back to make it 27-26. In a nail-biting finish John Okafor touched down in the 77th minute to seal the win for his side. Rotherham scored five tries to the Leeds four to gain the maximum points from the game whilst the visitors took both bonus points on offer. The Man-of-the-Match award went to the Titans left-winger Jack Taylor who scored two tries.
The second Yorkshire derby saw Sheffield RUFC at home to Otley in what was later described as “a pulsating all-Yorkshire clash”, which saw the home side win a very close game by 21-15 after leading 14-5 at the break. Sheffield scored three tries to Otley’s two and with just six minutes remaining the held a 21-8 lead but a converted try for Otley saw them throw all they had at the Sheffield defence, but to no avail and they went home with a losing bonus point. The Sheffield scrum–half Elliot Fisher took the Man-of-the-Match honours.
Struggling Hull Ionians travelled to Fylde hoping to lift themselves above Billingham in the relegation battle but has a disastrous first half which ended with Fylde leading by 26-5. The home side maintained their dominance during the second period and went on to win the game by 45-17. Fylde scored seven tries to Ionians three in front of the Division’s largest crowd (1,195). The Fylde right-winger Adam Lanigan posted a hat-trick of tries the take the Man-of-the-Match award.
The other Roses clash was between Wharfedale and Preston Grasshoppers where Wharfe dominated the first half to build up a 19-0 lead at the interval. The Hoppers were much better in the latter stages of the second period but they were losing 31-0 before scoring three converted tries in the final quarter. Wharfe scored five tries in this game for maximum points but despite their late efforts the Hoppers went home pointless. The Wharfe flanker Ben Markey took the Man-of-the-Match award.
Lowly Billingham were at home to bottom side Huddersfield looking for a win to put them five points ahead of the two bottom sides, which they did in fine style, scoring nine tries to the Field’s five in a 53-29 victory after leading 22-14 at the break. The Billingham prop Dan Dixon posted a hat-trick of tries but the Man-of-the Match award went to his team-mate and back-rower Peter Youll.
Cheshire side Lymm were at home to Shefffield Tigers who set off at a terrific pace to score two unconverted tries from hooker Louis Townsend in the 2nd and 9th minutes. They flattered to deceive however as Lymm hit back in fine style to score five tries to give themselves a 33-10 lead at the interval. They scored one more try in the 60th minute to win the whilst the Tigers also scored two more tries in the second half for a final score of 43-24 to Lymm. Lymm’s scrum-half Callum Morris was voted Man-of-the-Match.
Finally, Hull RUFC travelled to Tynedale to play a side who beat them at Hull by 34-10 on November 25th. With the wind at their backs Tyne led 19-7 at the break with their England Under- 20s hooker Jacob Oliver scoring two tries. Not to be outdone Hull’s hooker Mike Jobling did the same as Hull went on to win by 36-34. Tyne had led for all of the game apart from when the score was 29-29 in the 70th minute.
In a dramatic finish Oliver’s third try in the 73rd minute seemed to have clinched the game for Tyne but hull have a reputation for late finishes and this game was no exception when Jobling crashed over in the left corner. A magnificent conversion from Reece Dean gave Hull the game and maximum points. Tyne had scored six tries to Hull’s five in this game but could onlyconvert two of them. Reece Dean, on the other hand, converted four for Hull plus a penalty goal, which made a vital difference. Dean in now the third highest points scorer in the Division on 229 points. He richly deserved the Man-of-the-Match award.
The positions at the top of the table shows leaders Leeds Tykes on 110 points, Rotherham Titans are second on 108, Sheffield are on 85 and Wharfedale on 73. In a marked change at the bottom Huddersfield are on 19 points, Hull Ionians are on 33, while Billingham’s win over Huddersfield puts them on 38.
There are no games over the Easter period with fixtures resuming on Saturday April 6th.
Ferensian.
HULL RUGBY UNION FOOTBALL CLUB 