The Stocksbridge lads were looking to get back to winning ways as they made the journey up to York on Saturday, but unfortunately it was a game of fine margins where they were unable to make an impact as York RI ended the game with a comfortable 23-0 victory.

Stocksbridge welcomed back the old faces of Curt “Spoonhead” Newton and veteran Brendan Rowett to bolster a forward pack that had been plagued with injuries of late.

The early exchanges were tightly contested and York had the better field position, with Bridge being asked to defend their try line and retain the ball under pressure. This pressure from York finally paid dividends in the form of a penalty to open the scoring after a shot from centre Ben Westby rode a little too high for the referee’s liking.

Stocksbridge were unable to get a foothold in possession as a slew of penalties conceded meant York could keep the ball deep in opposition territory. Stocksbridge defended resolutely and as soon as the penalty count halted they began to get on the front foot and place pressure back onto the home side.

York, however, took the wind out of the Stocksbridge sails with the game’s first try. A sloppy kick from the fly half under pressure dropped in no-man’s land only for the bounce to take it away from the four blue shirts that lay in wait and into the arms of the York centre. Stocksbridge were unable to scramble back and the try was converted to make the scores 10-0.

Bridge immediately responded with sustained pressure and it wasn’t long before the York open side was sent to the bin for a deliberate knock on. The Stocksbridge back line came into their own with brilliant link play between fly half Paul Kelly and centres Westby and, regular scrum half making a midfield cameo, Adam Frith. Try as they might the final pass eluded them and the scores remained 10-0 at the break.

Stocksbridge began the second half as they ended the first, camping in the opposition 22. They got within touching distance of the white wash before they were turned over at the breakdown. York diffused all momentum moments later with a penalty to stretch their lead to 13 points.

Sadly for the travelling pigs the penalty count began to creep up again as they were unable to adjust to the referee’s interpretation of the breakdown. York gratefully converted a third penalty to extended the lead to 3 scores, no mean feat with 10 minutes on the clock.

As desperation began to creep into a side eager to register points the York fly half was able to take advantage of a weary defence to run under the sticks to put the game to bed. He converted his own try to make the final score a rather flattering 23-0 to the home side.

Ultimately, it was a day where the scoreline didn’t reflect the balance of play; there were spells of excellent rugby and much to be pleased about heading into their next fixture.

Updated 08:49 - 20 Nov 2018 by Lewis Bowman