A mauling for Skipton

Skipton 18

SKIPTON went into this match knowing that nothing less than a win was required to keep alive any lingering hopes of promotion and joining their hosts in Yorkshire One.

By the end of the afternoon they had learned the very painful lesson that they are simply not yet ready for the next step, having been soundly beaten by a very strong Huddersfield YMCA side.

Their solid defensive tackling and command of set pieces assured a constant supply of ball which their eager, talented and imaginative back division chose to run at every opportunity.

In their two Samoans, winger Vince Fatu and centre Tekori Lutevu, they undoubtedly had the two outstanding players on view and in their last match before returning to the southern hemisphere. They chose to show the full repertoire of their combined and individual skills and together scored a total of 39 points..

Their team-mates gleefully accepted tries at regular intervals, created jointly by a mixture of the antipodean duo's undoubted skills and Skipton's inept tackling.

The fact that YMCA outscored Skipton by 11 tries to three shows just how much work there is still to do ahead of next season.

Ironically, on a sunny but bitterly cold afternoon, Skipton kicked off and immediately took the lead when Darren Howson stroked over a penalty. There was no indication of what was to follow as the game was equally contested in the opening stages, Lutevu equalising with a penalty for the home side.

YMCA came more and more into the game and on 14 minutes the long striding, elusive power and angle of Fatu's running saw him slicing through in the centre for a try at the posts converted by Lutevu.

A spell of Skipton pressure then saw them rewarded with a second penalty from Darren Howson, but two minutes later, Fatu again made the telling thrust before passing to Lutevu, who scored under the posts to make the conversion a certainty.

At 17-6 down after twenty minutes the writing was on the wall, but Skipton managed to repel the massing raiders until the half hour, at which point three tries in five minutes effectively killed the game as a contest.

Lutevu again, winger Daryl Derose and scrum half Paul Hopkinson all scored, with Lutevu converting two, and on the stroke of half time, with centre Matt Jones lying injured on halfway, fly-half Stuart Morton crossed for Lutevu to convert.

The sides turned round at 43-6 and this was now fast becoming an embarrassing experience for the Skipton faithful band of spectators.

Early pressure at the start of the second-half almost brought reward when the mercurial Duncan Brown made a telling break. Skipper Declan Hayes and flanker Mark Davison provided support and Mike Beech finished off in style by flying over the line, only to be brought back as Davison was adjudged to have had a foot in touch when delivering the final pass.

Matt Jones left the field with yet another shoulder injury to be replaced by Anthony Hill and three minutes later it was Ian Scrivin that went off with a leg injury, Andy Phillip taking his place. Phil Crossman was then sin-binned for tripping, dictating that Baden Burns took the field as prop replacement and pack leader Adam Winthrop took an enforced breather.

Being one man short was not what Skipton needed and YMCA capitalised by scoring two more tries through Andy Crossley and Hopkinson and the inevitable Lutevu adding a conversion.

Between these two tries, Skipton restored a little pride when Brown again broke through several tackles and fed Marcroft, who produced a memorable one handed, American Football style pass of fully 40 yards which the speedy Paul Lacy gleefully accepted and sped over at the corner with the YMCA defence for once helpless.

Crossman returned to the fray just in time to see stocky West Indian winger Derose and then captain and lock Gary Toomes score tries, the latter following a length of the field movement involving most of the YMCA team.

Fatu then reminded everyone of his class by running in from half way on a mesmerising, powerful effort that left several Skipton players grasping at thin air. Lutevu drove the final nail in Skipton's coffin by converting from the touchline for a personal haul of 29 points.

With just three minutes left and trailing by an unbelievable 63 points, there was just time for Skipton to regroup and restore some pride when after one last effort the ball was fed to Paul Lacy, who ran half the length of the field and for once showed a clean pair of heels to his limpet like opponent to score his second fine try which Howson converted.

Skipton can take solace from the fact that on the day they were beaten by clearly the best team in the division, but few of the Skipton players will wish to remember their performances. Marcroft and Brown at half back and Darren Howson at full-back played well against a continuous onslaught and Lacy took his two tries well.

This has still been a successful season and the remaining three league games provide a stern test of resolve to ensure that the achievements to date are not forgotten and allowed to be tarnished by a lack- lustre conclusion.