Yarnbury 25

Acklam 12

THIS quarter-final Yorkshire Shield game was marred by an injury to Yorkshire Under-20s centre Ben Horner following a challenge from aggressive Acklam wing forward Sean Cassidy.

Horner had to leave the field midway through the first-half following the incident which went unpunished by the referee.

Horner was replaced by Burton, who went into the second row with Miller moving to the back row and allowing Willman to take up the centre position where he had a splendid game.

Acklam had come to Brownberrie Park on the back of an impressive league season being undefeated, having played 18 matches and having racked up over 700 points.

On a sunny day with little wind the game started at a ferocious pace with the visitors aiming to take control. This did not allow for Yarnbury's inspirational captain who, having charged down an attempted clearance by the Acklam stand-off, picked up and dived over to open the scoring. The conversion was missed by Galbraith, who had an off day with his kicking.

Galbraith added a penalty before the try of the match was scored. Threlfall took possession on the half-way, skirted past at least two defenders and laid the ball back inside to full-back Billy Thompson, who dived over to make the score 13-0. Galbraith missed the conversion and Acklam knocked over a penalty to leave the half-time score at 13-3.

Yarnbury had the perfect start to the second-half. Following an up-and-under by Galbraith the ball was moved out left and with an overlap available Thompson cut back to score his second try.

Acklam responded with three penalties and had their best period for 30 minutes but Yarnbury's defence held firm with, in particular Galbraith forcing the winger into touch and Bramham tackling the same player, forcing a knock-on with the line begging. These were important contributions with the score being so tight.

The ill Steve Miller was substituted by John Hague. The referee, tired of the endless banter, sin-binned Acklam's Cassidy with ten minutes to go.

The final try came from a speculative kick ahead which wingman John Bramham kicked on and re-gathered before he plunged over the line. Galbraith had the satisfaction of quietening the belligerent followers of the visitors by knocking over the conversion with the last kick of the day.

l Saturday sees a return to league rugby with a trip to North Ribblesdale with Yarnbury keen to secure second place and therefore qualify for the play-offs. The Hornets entertain Wetherby Firsts; the Third team entertain Leodiensians and the Fourth team entertain Leodiensians Fourths. (3 pm).

Ilkley Seconds 30

Yarnbury Hornets 34

THE Hornets travelled to Ilkley and produced a real Jekyll and Hyde performance to secure a hard-fought but exciting victory.

After a dour first-half performance, Yarnbury turned round facing a 25-10 deficit with their only reward being a well-worked Peter Craven try and a conversion and penalty from full-back Dave Newby.

A half-time roasting from skipper Kris Lilley seemed to rouse the Yarnbury troops who spent the majority of the second-half camped in the Ilkley half.

The visitors got their reward for their continued pressure when scrum-half Neil Pennington tunnelled his way over from a yard out.

Newby's conversion brought the Hornets back into the game with the score 25-17 in favour of Ilkley. Soon after, good hands in the backs after strong driving from the pack sent Rob Cowan over to bring the Hornets to within three points of Ilkley.

A lucky try from a charged down kick seemed to have given Ilkley the breathing space they needed and with 12 minutes on the clock Yarnbury seemed down and out, needing two scores to win the game.

Driven on by a pack now playing with passion and determination, the Hornets pushed forward to try and complete an amazing comeback. Andy Evans gave them hope, latching on to a quick tap penalty to bulldoze his way over at the corner to again bring Yarnbury within three points, but with the clock ticking down the game seemed beyond them.

Yarnbury then plucked victory from the jaws of defeat. Fly-half Lilley ran across the face of the defence and picked out centre Peter Craven with a sublime one-handed pass. Craven did the rest as his searing pace beat the cover defence for one of the scores of the season. Newby nudged over the extras to complete a famous win for the Yarnbury boys who must build on their second-half performance in the end of the season run-in.

Yarnbury Thirds travelled to Ripon for what looked to be a tough fixture. This turned out to be the truth, with Ripon's big pack dominating proceedings.

Yarnbury's only reward came from ironically Ripon's substitute centre, Martin Clinton, who came on for the visitors and made a break in the centre to cross unopposed.

Yarnbury U-10s/11s 21

West Park U11s 0

WITH the Easter break causing shortages Yarnbury combined the Under-10s and 11s. Facing strong opposition in West Park, Yarnbury took the game in their stride and scored three tries from Stephen Nolson, Ben Whitfield and Lewis Cooper, with conversions by Lewis Cooper (2) and Ben Whitfield.

Yarnbury U-10s/11s 21

Wetherby U-11s 7

WITH the forwards linking well, driving the ball, and setting it up for the backs to show their pace, Yarnbury scored three tries, two by Lewis Cooper and one by Jacob Gill, to Wetherby's one. Lewis Cooper converted two and Ben Whitfield one.

Yarnbury U-7s 60

Wetherby U-7s 45

THE Under-7s produced some super rugby to defeat their Wetherby counterparts in two high-scoring matches. The defence was solid with great tackling from Oliver Dykes, Edward Thirkell and Jack Mallinson.

With some good passing there were long and short-range tries scored by Jack Scoffield, Callum Postle (3) and James Burnside, with an amazing eight tries.

Yarnbury U-8s 45

Wetherby U-8s 20

THE drier conditions certainly seemed to suit the Yarnbury boys as they ran in nine tries against a quality Wetherby side with whom they had only managed to draw earlier in the season.

Defence in the first-half seemed a little creaky with both sides taking it in turns to score, but to turn round 20-10 up gave the boys in blue the second-half advantage.

Consistent tackling from Harry Woodward, William Griffiths and Ben McNulty, along with new boy Timothy Arnold restricted Wetherby to two tries in the second-half.

This set the platform for Josh Bateson (4), Harry Woodward and George Oldridge (3) to score the winning points, with one of George Oldridge's tries being a length of the field interception.

Yarnbury U-8s 70

Wensleydale U-8s 20

NEW opponents Wensleydale did little to trouble a fired-up Yarnbury team who are keen to keep their winning record intact. After letting in three first-half tries, the half-time talk seemed to have the desired effect, with Wensleydale being restricted to one score in the second period.

Excellent support play and tackling which, on many occasions, pushed the opposition backwards, allowed the tries to come from Harry Woodward (2), Josh Bateson (5), William Griffiths (2), George Oldridge (2) and Ben McNulty (3).

A special mention must go to Jack Scoffield, who stepped up from the Under-7s and produced the kind of rugby that any of his Under-8 counterparts would be proud of.

Presidential address

YARNBURY RUFC will hold its annual club dinner at The Brownberrie Park Club house tonight, Thursday, with the England RFU president, Roy Manock, gracing the club with his presence.

The dinner commences at 8pm and 150 members and guests are expected to hear the wise words of Roy and first team captain Steve Lee's entertaining summary of the season so far.