Of the fixtures played on January 25th there were two Yorks County derbies and one Roses clash. One significant feature of the days matches was that all the current three bottom sides took losing bonus points off the top three sides and one of them (Harrogate) also got the try-scoring point as well.
Fifth in the table Wharfedale travelled to the Ferens Ground hoping to reverse the 34-24 defeat by Hull RUFC on October 5th but once again the fifth from bottom home side took the maximum points with a 32-19 victory after leading 14-12 at half-time. Hull scored five tries to Wharfe’s three with centre Bureta Faraimo having a very good game, scoring two tries. Adam Brankley scored his 10th try of the season and a rare try from prop Charlie Beech delighted the home fans. Winger Josh Vatovou scored his first try for the club and full-back Finlay Hobson landed two conversions and one penalty goal. Bureta Fariamo took the Man-of-the-Match award. Attendance 398.
Otley entertained Sheffield RUFC and in the first half the felt the full weight of the Sheffield attack as the visitors scored three tries to lead 19-3 at the break. Otley hit back very well early in the second half, scoring tries in the 43rd, 48th and 52nd minutes all of which were converted by Joe Rowntree, who had also added a 33rd minute penalty goal. Sheffield then regained their poise to score three further tries, two of which were converted by their scrum-half Fisher. The Man-of-the-Match was the Sheffield No8 Ryan Burrows. Attendance 218.
Second-placed Lymm were the visitors at Harrogate who belied their bottom place in the table with their display in an eleven try thriller in which they scored five tries to Lymm’s six in a 36-31 victory for the Cheshire side who were trailing 19-17 at the interval. Lymm were leading by 36-24 in the 76th minute but a last-minute try be Ollie Tomalin, converted by Rory McNab enabled ‘Gate to take both bonus points on offer. The Lymm scrum-half Callum Morris was voted the Man-of-the-Match. Attendance 150.
League leaders Leeds Tykes would maybe have thought that they would have an easy game when second from bottom club Billingham where the visitors at the Sycamores Ground but they found themselves facing a strong challenge throughout the game. The Tykes led 21-13 at the interval but Billingham came back very strongly to take the second half by 14-12 for a final score of 33-27 to the Tykes, who scored five tries the Billingham’s three. Two tries in the final fifteen minutes gave them a well-deserve bonus point. The Man-of-the-Match was the Leeds right-winger
Ewan Evans. Attendance 428.
Sheffield Tigers posted their third home win on the trot when they scored three tries to one against Chester in an 18-14 victory after leading 14-8 at the break. One of their tries was scored by centre Barney Groatley who was playing his 50th game for the club. He also won the Man-of-the-Match honours. Fly-half Sam Rogers kept Chester in the game with three penalty goals in the 40th, 61st and 65th minutes. Attendance 190.
Preston Grasshoppers made the long cross-country trip to Corbridge to take on Tynedale on a wind-swept Station Road Ground where they were beaten by 25-18 after leading 15-10 that the interval. The back-end of Storm Eowyne played a big part in the game which was described as
“an entertaining display”. Tyne scored four tries to the Hoppers two, who had to be satisfied with a losing bonus point.
The Man-of-the-Match award went to Will Roberts, the Tyne centre. No attendance figure was given.
Finally, Fylde were the hosts to Hull Ionians at The Woodlands in a very evenly contested game which they won by 31-27 after leading by 19-8 at the break. Fylde scored five tries to the Ionians four and their bright start saw them leading 19-0 after thirty minutes before Ionians brought the score closer with a try and a penalty goal before half-time. Ionians made a good start to the second period when they scored two tries and one conversion to take a 20-19 lead. It was a short-lived lead however as Fylde hit back to make it 24-20 before going further ahead with another converted try. With the score at 31-20 the Ionians centre Lewis Minikin scored a last-minute try, converted by himself, for the losing bonus point to add to the try bonus point already in the bag. The Man-of-the-Match was the Fylde prop Matt Garrod. Attendance 804 which was the highest of the day in N2N.
The situation at the top of the table remains unchanged with Leeds Tykes first on 75 points , second are Lymm also on 75 points, with Sheffield RUFC third on 74 points. In the nether regions Hull RUFC have moved up from 11th to 9th and are now on 34 points. Sheffield Tigers are 11th on 32 points. Otley have dropped to 12th on 31 points while Harrogate are on 26 with bottom club Billingham on 25 points.
The top games to be played on February 1st (league placings) are:
Sheffield Tigers v Preston Grasshoppers – 11th v 10th
Tynedale v Wharfedale – 6th v 5th
Chester v Hull Ionians – 8th v 7th
Wherever you are enjoy your rugby.
Ferensian.
HULL RUGBY UNION FOOTBALL CLUB 