Aireborough get off to a flier (From Bradford Telegraph and Argus)

Aireborough get off to a flier

11:29pm Sunday 5th September 2010 in

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Aireborough 19 York Railway Institute 0

There has been much concern at Nunroyd recently at the strength of the squad as a number of key players had either retired, were injured or were taking breaks from the club due to university.

Coach Simon Carbutt was fielding a side with a few players playing in new positions but as the game went on it was apparent that the pre-season training and drilling had formed a good foundation for some sparkling and adventurous rugby.

York, who are newly promoted to the league, looked to have a good sized pack but were well matched with Richard Fall returning from his brief retirement to add some size and power to the scrums and loose play.

The early exchanges were fairly even but slowly Aire started to take control and some excellent tactical kicking by stand-off Nick Holdsworth gave the home side well earned territorial advantage.

Both sides had chances to score and a couple of penalties were missed by both sides. After 25 minutes Aire were camped on the York line pressing for a score.

The ball broke from a scrum and when it was recycled at the ensuing ruck veteran prop Tim Baxter burst through some despairing tackles and crashed over, taking three York players with him in the process. Chris Blackshaw converted.

Aire started the second half well and the back row was causing York trouble with some excellent tackling, covering and close support for the backs in attack.

Johnny Mackey at open side flanker was outstanding and put in a man of the match performance and was well supported by Baxter junior, Tom. Nick Holdsworth continued to control the game and rarely took the wrong option and his kicking was accurate and kept the opposition going backwards.

When the ball was shipped wide the new centre pairing of Luke Rogers and Will Marlow looked dangerous and Anthony Clitheroe showed his pace and went close but injured himself in the process being replaced by another veteran James Kinghorn. The second try came as the ball was slung out right and collected by winger Blackshaw who still had work to do but powered over in the corner.

Aire were now in complete control and even when York pressed for a score somehow the home side cleared their lines. One such clearance saw Kinghorn pounce on a loose ball and burst free from inside his own 22. Kinghorn had a ten-yard start on the defence and looked certain to go the length of the field to score but slowly he was reeled in by the cover and brought down within a few yards of the line. Maybe the sleepless nights with his newborn twins in taking its toll?

Aire pinched the ball at the next line out and from the ruck prop, Mike Tully spotted a gap in the defence and, in a similar way to Baxter's earlier try, used his power to crash through tackles to score near the posts. Blackshaw added the extra points.

York were starting to get frustrated and the game started to get a little ugly with a fracas breaking out near the Aire line. It’s not exactly clear who did what but James Greenwood appears to have been spotted committing some foul play and received his marching orders from the referee. He will now certainly miss the next two games with an automatic Aireborough-imposed ban and may then have to appear before an RFU disciplinary committee.

It was a sorry end to what had been an entertaining game played in good spirit by both sides.