Yorkshire Division Three: Baildon 3 Old Modernians 36

BAILDON started well, lock Tom Peel finding himself in space on the wing and cantering down the pitch like a giraffe pursued by a pride of hungry lions.

The home side had the first chance at points with two penalty kicks, both falling short of the posts, and it even appeared that Baildon might enjoy at least parity at scrum time.

But when JJ O'Connell departed after 15 minutes for a concussion that had him musing whether or not it was half term and how he had got to the planet, let alone the ground, Baildon imploded.

The scrummage suddenly found reverse gear and contrived to lose the ball on a Baildon feed, Old Modernians taking advantage and territory.

When the next scrum was awarded on Baildon's five-metre line, the hosts conceded a free-kick which was taken quickly.

It looked like the Baildon defence might hold but, on the fifth drive, Mods crossed to lead 7-0.

If the Baildon players of yesteryear, turning out in strength in a show of support for the current young side, had hoped the Jenny Laners might be stung into action, they were to be disappointed.

In a flurry of miserable missed tackles, Baildon allowed Mods to score almost immediately from the restart to increase the deficit to 12 points.

There was a brief period of hope when man of the match, prop Sam Thomspon, made a typically strong carry that saw the visitors penalised for not releasing in the tackle. Matty Robinson stepped up to take the points and reduce the gap to nine.

Mods, however, were full of confidence, spurning an easy penalty kick at goal and opting for the scrum. At the next breakdown, they went into the ruck from the side, conceding the penalty that ought to have allowed the home team to relieve the pressure.

But Baildon's brittle confidence then let them down at the line-out, giving Mods the ball and one last attack in the first half.

Mods kicked through, but Baildon full back Robinson won the foot race and dotted the ball down to end the half.

The second half started as had the first, with two rampaging runs from Peel, who appeared to have the try line at his mercy, only to run out of steam as though being pulled back by a giant invisible bungee rope.

Phil Wilson, a stampeding elephant to Peel's inner giraffe, could also not cross, and eventually Baildon's accuracy let them down.

Somewhat against the run of play, Old Mods turned over Baildon ball to run in a length-of-the-pitch try that broke Baildon hearts and any traces of defiance at 17-3.

Now Mods tormented Baildon with the boot, keeping the home side pegged in their own half. Baildon won a line-out in the corner but it was not a clean catch, rather a loose flap at the ball which bobbled invitingly in the Baildon in-goal area.

With Baildon players frozen bystanders, the Mods back row sauntered through the porous defence to flop on the loose ball for the softest of bonus-point tries, converted with a fine kick from the touchline.

Dominant Mods were then given free range on the Jenny Lane pitch by the home side who were almost in total submission by now.

Mods backs were full of running, while their forwards were bouncing off weak high tackles at will.

Two further scores came amid little Baildon resistance before the referee offered the home side some relief with the final whistle.

A defeat is only a disaster when you fail to learn. Some honest words were spoken in the changing room and the desire is still there prior to the massive derby relegation clash at Aireborough on Saturday, November 7.