Carnegie stay second despite missing bonus at Scottish
YORKSHIRE Carnegie consolidated second place but head coach Bryan Redpath lamented his side’s failure to garnish their win with a bonus point.
Jonah Holmes’ superbly taken try-double and Pete Lucock’s finish put the visitors in command at the interval. However, a lone Joe Ford penalty was all they could muster in the second 40 minutes as a previously entertaining contest petered out.
Redpath said: “To only win the second-half 3-0 was hugely disappointing. Our first-half was very good with the three tries and defensively we were outstanding, but our lineout let us down and that’s something we’ll need to address.
“It’s a win but the bonus point would have been massive.”
Yorkshire butchered an early five-metre lineout but ruthlessly exploited their second incursion into Scottish territory when lively centre Tom Casson was twice involved before releasing Holmes for a dextrous touchdown in the corner.
Scottish responded immediately, a well executed maul sending David Cherry over with Peter Lydon’s extras putting the home side ahead.
Ford restored Yorkshire’s lead after Scottish held on and the visitors soon grabbed their second try when Richard Mayhew ripped the ball clear in midfield, enabling Alex Davies to dab through for Holmes to gather and score.
Holmes created further panic in the home defence with an arcing right to left run. Yorkshire recycled to keep Scottish at full stretch and, after fly-half George Cullen was sin-binned for a deliberate knock-on, Ford banged over the penalty.
Lydon’s dash down the right forced a penalty from which the full-back found the corner. Neale Patrick collected the lineout before Scottish again showed their prowess at the driving maul, with Dan Koroi the try-scoring beneficiary.
Yorkshire’s third try came as Chris Elder’s run created space for Ford to spread the ball wide via Casson and Seb Stegmann for Lucock to score.
Yorkshire led 23-14 at half-time and began the second period brightly.
Mayhew, enjoying a fine game for Yorkshire, was at the heart of an attack with multiple involvements as Lewis Boyce almost latched on to Elder’s chip, before Ford combined with Casson to send Josh Bain- bridge hurtling through.
Scottish saw off the danger but a scrum collapse let Ford extend his side’s lead.
Scottish threatened briefly through Jason Harries, who burst clear down the left before finding
Danny Kenny in space. He combined with Jamie Stevenson as Yorkshire scrambled back, only for a forward pass to halt the momentum.
Home frustration grew as the penalty count mounted but Harries broke again and Ford saw yellow for killing the ball.
Scottish laid siege in the closing minutes, desperate for a losing bonus point, but Lucock scragged Lydon as he looked set to cross and Casson’s monster hit on Ifereimi Boladau at the death denied the home side their consolation.
“The ultimate word is frustration,” said Scottish hooker Cherry. “We’ll take a lot from our defence in the second-half but we didn’t convert our line-breaks and that’s disappointing.”