BAILDON 16 – 12 SKIPTON

SKIPTON travelled to Baildon on Saturday and suffered their first league defeat since last September. With close rivals Thornensians and Yarnbury both winning this defeat knocked Skipton off top spot in the table.

In the home tie in November, the Reds won easily 37–17 but on Saturday Baildon took their revenge and deserved their win in a close game where Baildon took their chances but Skipton, lacking their usual flair, did not.

The Reds had anticipated a tough forwards game in muddy conditions but in reality this did not apply. If only Skipton had altered their game plan during the match and used their speedy backs to better advantage in the dry conditions then the result would have been very different.

Skipton effectively threw away the game in the first twenty minutes. During this early period the Reds were constantly on attack in the Baildon half; they had 90% of the ball and yet never crossed the line to score. This was their chance to build up a big lead and the opportunity never returned once Baildon got in their stride.

Then, completely against the run of play, a careless kick from the Skipton defence was intercepted and Baildon scored and were 5-0 up.

This set-back spurred Skipton into reality and they then played their best period of the game. The forwards worked together as a strong unit and it was pleasing to see flanker Matty Wilson prominent on his return to the first team. The backs looked eager and potent.

Soon Skipton went into the lead with a superb back movement involving the whole line of James Burke, Hamish Munro, Jon and Richard Dillon and full back Alex Naylor coming forward to get the vital try. With an accurate powerful conversion from Darren Howson the Reds looked comfortable with a 7-5 lead at half time.

However, upon the re-start, Skipton went sloppy again and Baildon quickly scored a try and then a penalty kick and they were in the lead 13-7.

Skipton again revitalized and a Hamish Munro burst through was finished off by Jon Dillon and Alex Naylor in the corner and although the conversion was impossible it was now a tense 13-12 scoreline.

Even the home crowd were sensing that Skipton were going to pull off a last minute win but careless mistakes gave possession back to Baildon and their alert centre punted an opportunist dropped goal and the final score was 16-12 to a jubilant Baildon and a very disappointing defeat for Skipton.

Skipton must regard this rare defeat as a wake-up call and no game will now be easy as the season progresses to finality. They remain very strong contenders for one of the two league promotion places but they cannot afford another “off day” like Saturday.