Goole 23

Yarnbury 12

YARNBURY travelled over to Goole with a much-changed side from the one that had seen off Roundhegians the previous week. With both half-backs injured veteran fly-half Ian Whitehurst returned to first team action along with Andy Cowley.

Yarnbury expected a tough game from a Goole side playing two leagues above and with a reputation for playing quick open rugby.

The visitors struggled to adapt to the pace of the game for the first half-hour and were duly punished. Two early penalties were followed by three tries to give Goole a 23-0 lead. Yarnbury seemed to see very little of the ball and they were forced to defend against some enterprising back play. To those on the touchline the game appeared hopelessly one-sided and potentially a torrid afternoon lay in store for the Horsforth men. Despite having nine first team squad members unavailable the current side is made of fighting qualities. These were shown consistently for the remainder of the match.

Barnstorming centre Steve Riley produced several marauding runs in centre field and for once Yarnbury got over the gain line. As a result Yarnbury were able to finish the half strongly and avoid conceding any further scores.

The second-half mirrored the first but with the visitors in ascendancy. The forwards began to dominate the scrum and possession was used more wisely under the auspices of the experienced Whitehurst. Several phases of possession were recycled near to the Goole line and Wayne Butterfield was felled inches short of the line. The supporting Cowley was on hand to dive over and Riley converted to give Yarnbury renewed confidence for the remainder of the game.

Mark Coates and Matthew Burton again combined well in the lineout to supply some good quality ball and for once Goole looked shaky in defence. An outstanding arcing burst from Riley produced another try fully utilising his strength and weight to ground the ball in a two-man tackle. With 10 minutes left the lead had been reduced to 11 points, and despite adventurous Yarnbury attempts to score from long-range Goole held on for victory.

The after-match post-mortem produced several positive things and some learning points for the hard few weeks ahead. The next hurdle is to win in Newcastle when Yarnbury visit Medicals in a must win league encounter next Saturday.

Converted for the new archive on 30 June 2000. Some images and formatting may have been lost in the conversion.