Ratcliffe at double in Pocklington success
Scarborough RUFC made it three wins in a row after an excellent performance saw them beat Pocklington 27-15 at Percy Road on Saturday.
Fielding two debutants, thevisitorshadtowithstanda fieryopeningspellfromPocklington but weathered an early storm and crossed over for their first try of the afternoon in the 10th minute.
After building the phases, the ball was moved wide, and winger Tom Makin crashed over in the corner. Against strong wind, Tom Ratcliffe’s conversion fell short for 5-0.
The hosts then hit back in the 27th minute. Having won their scrum, the offload was found on the wing and fullbackChristianPollockscored. He stepped up for the conversion, but it sailed just wide.
The lead was restored just three minutes later courtesy of captain Drew Govier, who picked the ball up from the bottom of the ruck and powered over under the posts for 12-5.
The final action of the first half came in the form of a Pock penalty. Pollock made light work of it to leave his side trailing 12-8 at the break.
The second half started in similar fashion, with both sides trading lusty blows but neither troubling the scoreboard. In the 46th minute,
Matty Jones’ side were reduced to 14 men with Euan Govier receiving the game’s first yellow card for a danger
ous tackle.
Pock used the man advantage and took the lead for the first time in the 47th minute. Former player Sam Dawson crossingoverfromcloserange to give his side a slender 15-12 lead.
Scarborough responded
emphatically in the 55th minute through Ratcliffe. He took the penalty quickly, bounced off a tackle and crossed over. He added the extras for 19-15.
The scrum started to take control of the match and the SilverRoydoutfitwonapenaltyinfrontofthepostsandRatcliffesteppeduptoextendthe
advantage.
With the game finely poised, Ratcliffe secured the bonus point and his sides fourth try of the afternoon. Under pressure inside their own 22, Ratcliffe intercepted apassandranthelengthofthe field to score in the corner.
That was the final action of a pulsating match, with the bonus point win taking Scarborough up to fourth in the Regional 2 North East table. They return to Silver Royd thisweekend,astheywelcome third-placed Pontefract.