Yorkshire Division Two: Pontefract 34 Old Grovians 10

WITH the recent floods and cold weather, this was the first outing for Old Grovians since December 19,and the bad weather had also played havoc with their training schedules.

All of this showed in the second half as they couldn't respond to the well-drilled pressure of an in-form Pontefract.

The first half was very even and, apart from a breakaway try by Pontefract in the first minute, Old Grovians matched the hosts and seemed to be getting the upper hand towards the interval.

Pontefract kicked and chased, making the score 5-0 within 60 seconds, but Old Grovians then fought back, with play hovering around centrefield until they were awarded a penalty on 20 minutes, duly despatched by Ben Brown.

Unfortunately, while this kick was true, a lot of the later ground and clearance kicking lacked somewhat in distance and direction.

On the half-hour, Pontefract moved the ball well to create a three-man overlap as Old Grovians were slow to cover and got their second try, again missing the conversion.

Old Grovians pressed again and, for a good ten minutes, were making ground and seemingly getting the decisions from the referee, who, just before half-time, seemed to miss what looked like an obvious knock on by Grovians five yards out, centre Anthony Griffin playing to the whistle and picking up for the visitors' only try.

The conversion again successful, leaving the half-time score at 10-10.

The promising first half, however, was not to repeated for the visitors as Pontefract consistent applied pressure from all phases.

At first, Old Grovians looked like they would absorb this but clearance and ground-gaining kicks fall somewhat short of being effective, allowing Pontefract to come straight back.

They haa a try disallowed when the referee was unsighted but their right winger skipped between two defenders ten minutes in and was only stopped by a high tackle, Pontefract taking the penalty quickly to score their third try.

Their fourth, and bonus-point, try came five minutes later from a driven line-out.

Old Grovians then had another good ten-minute spell, ended when the visitors were penalised for holding on, and Pontefract finished with a decent last 15 minutes in which they scored two converted tries.

The Apperley Bridge club now have three successive home games but, with hopefully better training conditions, match fitness should improve and if they can keep injuries to a minimum they should build up their play as they were just before the Christmas break.