Hull................7

Yarnbury......13

THE fingernails of Yarnbury coach Bob Hood have been bitten well down in recent weeks. Not since the start of November has more than one score decided a Yarnbury league game and this encounter proved to be no exception.

The match turned out to be a carbon copy of the previous week with Yarnbury desperately holding on to a narrow lead whilst being placed under large amounts of pressure.

However, it was their turn to have the piece of good fortune as Hull missed two excellent try-scoring opportunities and combined with good discipline and resolute defence Yarnbury clinched two valuable league points.

Hull have strengthened their squad and recruited four new players since Christmas and ironically Yarnbury's nemesis from the previous week, Gary Pearce, made his debut after his transfer from Pocklington.

Despite arriving 15 minutes before kick-off due to traffic congestion Yarnbury started very brightly. Richard Sharpe found a large gap in midfield and his well-timed pass allowed veteran centre Andrew Marshall to score under the posts. Steve Galbraith converted.

Yarnbury tried to throw the ball about and move the bigger Hull pack around the pitch. However, they were unable to penetrate and finish several promising attacks.

Hull began to respond and they gained a lot of good possession from the line-out. Utilising their back row and centres to drive the ball in Pearce was able to find space to put his winger in for a try, which he converted himself to level the scores.

A 40-yard Galbraith penalty just before half-time saw the visitors enter the interval just in front at 10-7.

The second period saw the Yarnbury forwards using variety in the line-out to secure the ball and this enabled the visitors to put Hull under plenty of pressure. Galbraith extended the lead further with another penalty.

A superb last ditch tackle from flanker Martin Rivett saved a certain try and some sterling work in the scrummage from the forwards repelled numerous promising positions for Hull.

As the game entered the final minutes the tension began to rise as play moved from one end of the pitch to the other. Billy Thompson had the opportunity to win the game but his dropped kick sailed wide.

Then Hull conjured up a three-man overlap but their flanker knocked on 15 yards short of the line. There was to be no repeat of the heartbreaking scene of the previous week as Yarnbury held on.

The tackling at times was outstanding with Warren Wilman revelling in his return to first team action. Sharpe was a deserved Man-of-the- Match with his direct running and uncompromising defence whilst the experienced Sean Craven never took a backward step at No 8.

It was psychologically an important away win for Yarnbury keeping them in touch with the leading teams in the league table and going some way to making amends for the disappointment of the injury time defeat the week before.

l On Saturday Selby are the visitors to Brownberrie Park.

Crossleyans A........12

Hornets...................23

Yarnbury Hornets travelled to Halifax for this tough-looking fixture and weren't disappointed. From the first whistle, Old Crossleyans stamped their authority on the game and caught a sluggish Yarnbury on the hop.

It wasn't long until the home side took advantage of their early pressure, uncharacteristic poor defence from Yarnbury's backs resulted in Crossleyan's impressive stand-off cutting through almost untouched to touch down, the extras were added to give Crossleyans a deserved lead.

The Yarnbury boys were slowly finding their feet and a penalty from full-back Duncan Ogilvie calmed the nerves.

However, the nerves started to jangle again when the home side's stand-off again broke Yarnbury's defence with some ease and off-loaded the ball to the supporting player who scored.

At last the Hornets woke up and after a clever midfield move from excellent stand-off Steff Patterson, wingman John Hinchcliffe crossed to bring Yarnbury back into the match.

A further penalty from Ogilvie brought Yarnbury to within a point of the home side at the halfway point.

The second-half was virtually all Yarnburys' and after a good period of pressure the Hornets crossed after Neil Pennington made a break and fed second team debutant Andy Keegan who beat two men and crossed unopposed.

Ogilvie slotted over the extras before Keegan crossed again to cap a very productive afternoon for the young back-row man, after the ball had gone through a full eight phases of play and in the end the home side just ran out of defenders.

An exciting final ten minutes saw both sides attacking from depth but they cancelled each other out, leaving the final score at 12-23 in Yarnbury's favour.

l On Saturday Yarnbury travel to Halifax in what will be an even tougher fixture in the West Yorkshire Second XV League.

Yarnbury B...........43

Crossleyans B........10

Yarnbury Thirds got their season back on track with a comprehensive victory over North-East Three rivals Crossleyans.

The scoring was started off by Yarnbury's winger Luke Cluderay, who bagged his first Third team try following a clever cross-kick from fly-half Kevin Robinson.

The next score was from the visitors who responded to the early pressure well and levelled the scores minutes later. This rallied the home side who took the game by the scruff of the neck and started scoring at will with Rupert Hutton, Wayne Butterfield, Matthew Brown and David Hornby all going over.

The second-half was much of the same except some generous refereeing allowed Crossleyans a further score but the home side finished well with Luke Cluderay and Peter Hutton scoring with Mick Pound converting to give the home side a runaway victory.

Special mention must be made to Yarnbury's Man of the Match John Dodgson, who at 17 years-old has a fantastic future in the back row.