Great victory for battling RUFC
Smith’s men win on the road
Scarborough RUFC kept their promotion hopes alive with a thrilling 36-27 victory at Old Brodleians in Yorkshire One. Simon Smith’s side led early on when Phil Watson powered over and Tom Ratcliffe converted for a 7-0 advantage.
The sides then exchanged penalties, Ratcliffe again showing an accurate boot to put Scarborough 10-3 ahead.
Hosts Brods battled back, touching down in the corner and subsequently converting to even things up at 10-10.
Scarborough again took the lead heading into the break, quick thinking from skipper Matty Jones releasing Aussie James Perrett to touch down.
Ratcliffe this time missed the conversion and Scarborough led 15-10 at the interval.
Scarborough were guilty of over-playing after the break and Brods took advantage, eventually kicking over a penalty to give themselves hope of a comeback at 15-13.
The visitors then took control again and after putting in some great phases and forcing a line-out, despite the driving mall collapsing, two phases later the prolific Watson bundled over for his second try and Ratcliffe again converted for 22-13.
Once again though the hosts battled back into the contest and they barged their way over before converting to narrow their deficit to 22-20.
But back came Smith’s promotion-chasing visitors, who won a penalty inside the home 22.
They chose to take the scrum and were rewarded with a penalty try to move 29-20 ahead.
With conditions deteriorating on a heavy pitch, Brods enjoyed some good possession in their own half, but Scarborough turned over the ball and Perrett found a gap to cruise through and score under the posts.
Ratcliffe converted for a 36-20 lead for Scarborough.
The hosts weren’t lying down and accepting defeat though, and after camping on the Scarborough line, a driving line-out resulted in them going over for a try, which they converted for 36-27.
Scarborough were forced to do some more defending to keep the hosts at bay, but they did just that and clinched a potentially crucial victory that keeps them firmly among the promotion mix-up at the top of the Yorkshire One standings.
An unconverted first-half Paul Taylor try was the only difference on the scoreboard on a cold and damp East Riding afternoon as the Scarborough RUFC Vikings beat Hornsea 5-0.
In reality, the Vikings never looked like being beaten by the opposition and should have pulled away with a far superior forwards and backs division, unfortunately the underfoot conditions slowed all pace advantages.
Aside from this, the ref-
eree ran a very tight ship for both teams and Scarborough’s indiscipline cost them possession in a penalty-heavy game.
An outstanding performance from flanker Euan Govier was a joy to behold as the Hornsea pack looked to unsettle and rough him up.
He responded with discipline, maturity and technique beyond his young years and never took a backwards step all afternoon.
The Scarborough RUFC
Valkyries were edged out at home to Novocastrians 15-10.
Terrible conditions made for a hard-fought game.
Novocastrians were camped in the home team’s half for most of the first 40 minutes of the game.
The Valkyries’ defence was strong, but a loose pass found its way into Novos hands and led to a try, which was soon followed by another from their speedy full-back.
In the second half Valkyries came back with two tries after the forwards fought tirelessly phase after phase, finally giving winger Beth Flinton and full-back Hayley Scholes the space to get a try each.
A few late injuries meant the Valkyries were heavily depleted and the Novos girls went over for another try just before the final whistle.
The player of the match went to Scholes, the newcomer to the side injected her strength and pace in attack and combined that with aggressive defence.