Yarnbury.............15

Wheatley Hills.10

YARNBURY produced a fine second-half performance to knock promotion-chasing Wheatley Hills off second spot in Yorkshire Division One.

An excellent display by the home pack, playing on a beautiful pitch at the Leeds University ground, paved the way for a 15-10 home victory and one of their best results of the season.

Needing victory to maintain their position in the runners-up slot in the league, the visitors came out of the starting gate first and scored a converted try from loose play after turning over Yarnbury possession.

Turning over Yarnbury possession was a common occurrence for the Wheatley pack through the first- half as the home side continually lost the ball in contact courtesy of bad body positioning.

With their dominance of the set piece, however, the home side were able to enjoy the lion's share of possession which told in the form of two Steve Galbraith penalties bringing Yarnbury back into the game with a 7-6 scoreline.

Minutes before the end of the first-half, the visitors extended their lead with a penalty, giving them a 10-6 lead at the break, leaving Yarnbury ruing their inability to retain ball in contact.

The second-half followed much the same pattern as the first.

The larger Wheatley Hills pack consistently lost their set piece ball to the home side where front rowers Phil Sutton, Martin Booth and Andy Rivett, and second rower Lian Rigby seemed to be able to pinch possession at will.

On their own set piece ball the Horsforth side were solid as a rock and, in contrast to the first-half, they began to regain ball and put numerous phases of possession together by going to ground early.

A third Steve Galbraith penalty brought Yarnbury back into the game at 10-9 and when he slotted a fourth with 15 minutes remaining, the home side went into the lead for the first time.

Sensing their first victory over Wheatley Hills in many a year, the Horsforth team picked up another gear in the last ten minutes and dominated possession against a wilting Wheatley side.

Centres Richard Sharpe and Neil Pennington stood firm in defence and began to ask questions in attack, and Man-of-the-Match Martin Booth drove the home pack forwards as they pounded the visiting defence.

Consistent pressure and good ball retention eventually told on the visitors as they conceded a crucial penalty with five minutes left on the clock.

Skipper Steve Lee stepped up to convert Yarnbury's fifth of the day, giving the home side a 15-10 lead and at the same time broke the spirit of an extremely competitive Wheatley side.

That they were able to stay in the game at all, despite being able to secure any set piece ball, spoke volumes for the visitors' loose play. Yarnbury, though, dominated the remaining minutes and, as the final whistle blew on another league victory, were camped at the right end of the pitch, in their opponents' 22, working the touchline as they had done all match.

l On Saturday Yarnbury visit a resurgent Keighley side in a re-arranged Yorkshire One league fixture.

With games in hand over the teams above, another away victory for the Horsforth outfit could see them move up to fourth place in what has turned out to be an extremely competitive league.

Old Brods...................30

Yarnbury Thirds...........8

A much changed Yarnbury Thirds made their second trip of the season to Old Brods to find themselves up against a very experienced and very strong Old Brods outfit.

Playing with the slope and the wind in the first-half, Yarnbury were camped for long periods of the half in the home side's 22.

However, strong defence from Brods made converting the territorial pressure into points more difficult than the visitors wished for and it was the home side, who against the run of play, opened the scoring with a well-taken breakaway try.

The visitors, however, were not to be deterred and were very quickly back on terms when a lineout on the home side's 22 was taken by John Haigh and a rolling maul saw Phil Wray go over in the corner to level the scores.

The final score of the half was from the visitors, who were awarded a penalty which Paul Oldridge converted to give the visitors an 8-5 advantage going into the second half.

The second-half was tough going for the visitors, who battled bravely to keep the score-line down.

But the experience of the home side soon showed through as they pinned the visitors deep inside their own 22 for most of the half, scoring a further three tries, converting two, and converting two penalties to give them a 30-8 victory.

The visitors can take heart from a well-spirited performance and refusing to let their heads drop.

Ilkley U-16s.....................5

Yarnbury U-16s..............37

Yarnbury travelled to a sun-drenched Ilkley last Sunday trying to bring the season back on track following a crushing defeat by Morley a fortnight earlier. The home club looked to have recruited well since the sides last met and seemed to be fired up for the contest.

Yarnbury made an excellent start and drove at the heart of the Ilkley defence but handling mistakes cost yardage and Ilkley used some astute kicks to gain field position close to the visitor's line.

Eventually the pressure told and the No 7 went over for an unconverted try and a 5-0 Ilkley lead. Despite this setback Yarnbury were winning enough ball not to panic and soon the play moved to the other end where Whitfield, Buckle and Malone all went close.

The Green's first try came from winger Corcoran, who stepped through the defence and then showed great strength to force his way over, Padden missed the extras.

Yarnbury soon realised that keeping the ball in hand would pay dividends and though he should have been stopped earlier Davies went over for a try close enough for Padden to convert and make the score 12-5.

A penalty from Padden increased the lead and then Maycock went over as part of a large overlap created by excellent driving from Hare, Montahini and Lydon. The half-time score was 20-5 in Yarnbury's favour.

Changes at half-time saw Jones on for Lydon, Calvert into the second row and Mortimer swapping positions with Hood.

From the kick-off Padden found touch close to the Ilkley line and a mis-directed throw was snaffled by Buckle who went over unopposed. The conversion fell just short.

Yarnbury looked set for a large total but Ilkley deserve great credit for the way they defended, even though most attacks were easily snuffed out.

Padden looked to be in trouble at one stage and was urged to kick by new recruit John Tate who followed up and won the chase for the line to bring the score to Ilkley five, Yarnbury 30.

Try as they might, Yarnbury seemed to suffer from the narrowness of the pitch, often having too many men in their handling movements.

However, the support play of Greaves, Buckle and Jones was exemplary and even the giant Calvert was beginning to outrun second-row partner Fox.

A drive up the left-hand touchline by Hood and Jones led to the big man crossing for the final try of the game and Padden added a superb conversion from wide out.

Otley U-12s.............42

Yarnbury U-12s.......28

With seven key players missing Yarnbury did well to turn round at half-time with honours even at 14-14, with tries by Luke Spencer and Alistair McInnes.

Otley, after half-time, brought on several fresh forwards and ran in four unanswered tries.

As both teams tired, Yarnbury gained their second wind and with some fine three-quarter moves scored tries by Man-of-the-Match Paul Downes, who also kicked four conversions, and Yorke Rossington.

Otley U-10s...............30

Yarnbury U-10s.........30

In a game of 'three halves', to allow all squad members to contribute on a dry, sunny day, to an excellent game of good rugby from both teams.

Try-scorers for Yarnbury were Adam Born, Thomas Phelps, Ben Hague, Andrew James, Michael Everson and Stephen Nolson.

Yarnbury U-9s.........45

Otley U-9s...............10

Playing several players out of position Yarnbury turned on a display of fine, open rugby with tries from Harry Coleman, Stephen Foster, Oliver Pratt and a hat-trick apiece for Oliver Hardaker and Jack Moglia.

Yarnbury U-9s............20

Old Mods U-9s/U-10s...10

Playing against a team of Under-9s and Under-10s, Yarnbury Under-9s came out victors in a hard-fought game, with Tom Moody excellent in open play. Tries were scored by Oliver Hardaker (2), Stephen Foster and Adam Malthouse.

Yarnbury U-8s.........40

Otley U-8s...............20

Playing their home fixture away (because of the foot and mouth outbreak), Yarnbury started slowly, falling behind to three well-taken Otley tries.

The second-half was a different story, with the whole team involved in some excellent inter-passing and support play, Yarnbury turned the game around with Daniel Burnside to the fore, covering every part of the pitch.

Try-scorers were Joseph Roche (2), Andre Gwilliam, Daniel Burnside (2), Adam Whitfield (2) and Jack Malthouse.

Yarnbury U-7s..........25

Otley U-7s..................5

Yarnbury's young hopefuls ran rings around the opposition with the jinking runs of Josh Bateson netting him four tries. Jack Malthouse was the other who jinked his way to the line. Ball retention was the key to their game with good handling from Yarnbury.

Yarnbury U-7s/8s.......40

Old Mods U7s/8s........25

In a fast and furious game played at tremendous pace, Yarnbury showed their fitness with some entertaining support play, with Daniel Burnside again in the thick of the action, netting four tries.

Adam Whitfield again scored two, with Jamie Carmichael and Andrew Gwilliam scoring one each.