Sat 14 Sep 2019
York RI kicked off their latest Yorkshire 4 campaign with a trip to Stocksbridge. Following a couple of tough games with the South Yorkshire side last season, another tough encounter was expected.
Stocksbridge started the game well, coming out of the blocks hard and establishing early field position in the RI 22 metre area. However, after a sustained period of pressure, resilient RI defence managed to turn the ball over and clear their lines. Form this point forward, the visitors started to control possession and territory and it wasn’t long until an early try came, through the strong running and evasion skills of debut centre Sam Royle, which was converted by fullback Chris Jones.
The home side responded to this with some strong running and earned a penalty, which was converted to take the score to 7-3. From here on, RI dominated the rest of the half and following good work from the forwards, the ball was moved wide through good play from fly half Tim Lewis and Royle, with the ball making it’s way to Jones, who put winger Harry Evans away, who completed a smart finish to extend the lead to 12-3.
Bad news followed for the visitors soon after, with scrum half Jonny Clark leaving the field with a nasty looking leg injury, however RI responded and went back on the attack and following a Stocksbridge scrum deep in their own half, which was turned over by the RI pack, number 8 Lewis Starbuck found space down the blindside and powered over for a 17-3 lead.
Once more RI went back on the attack and following more good work from fly half Lewis and centre Joe Field, an offload sent Royle under the posts for his second score, again converted by Jones, sending RI into the break with a 24-3 lead.
The second half started with a galvanised home side using their big forward pack and some strong running effectively, and began to find some success from an RI defence that had contained them well during the first half. RI unfortunately lost number 8 Starbuck to injury and the constant, physical style of play eventually told, with the home side deservedly getting their first try, converted, to bring the score to 24-10. This gave the hosts more confidence and with RI unable to respond to the barrage of strong ball carriers, a second try soon followed to narrow the gap to 24-15, with Stocksbridge in the ascendancy.
Stern words behind the posts from skipper Frazer Land jolted the visitors back into action and some good tactical kicking from
Lewis saw RI take the sting out of the game by pinning the hosts back in their own half for a good period of time. It was one of these kicks that put the Stocksbridge right wing under pressure and a fumble allowed replacement wing Andy Brentnall to gather the ball and dot down to extend the lead to 29-15.
Stocksbridge again came back hard in a late attempt to get more points on the board, but with some fresh legs on the field and a renewed focus, the RI defence held firm to complete a very good 29-15 victory.
A big word must go the the RI forward pack, who for the most part stood up well to a big Stocksbridge pack, with some strong runners and it was the visitors that gained the upper hand in the set piece, with the backs showing some clinical finishing when the opportunities came, with man of the match going to centre Royle on his debut.
RI are again on the road next week, with a trip to Hessle, another traditionally tough away fixture, but will travel with confidence after a strong start to the season.
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