Skipton 15 – 0 Moortown
A fixture against a team
hovering on the fringe of the promotion battle has the elements of a potential
banana skin even for a side on the run of success going back to September. This
is especially true of games against a Moortown side whose traditionally robust
approach has unsettled Skipton in the recent past but this season the Reds were
far too efficient for their visitors.
The
victory was down to total forward domination with some ferocious driving play
in loose and tight. Such was the Red pressure on the visitors’ increasingly
shambolic set piece at one stage the Moortown hooker, possibly after a late
night watching Steve Harmison in
The
front five totally demoralised their opponents. Second rows Malcolm and Richard
Willsher cleaned up in the lineout, benefiting from hooker Gavin Petterd’s
service, and cleaned out in the loose. Matthew Boatwright continued Richard’s
good work when he replaced him in the second half.
Petterd
together with props Moa Meki and Phil Crossman provide far more than for the
team than just their Herculean scrummaging. Iain Sneddon put in what is
becoming a regular immense performance of open side play and Vinny Murphy has
introduced a fresh dynamic since his return to the side. Adam Oldfield seems to
have found his ideal position at blind side always looking to act as a link
between backs and forwards and finding the energy to lead the pack exhorting
his men to ever greater efforts.
Halfbacks
Darren Howson and Chris Wibberley mixed play cleverly in the tricky
conditions. Although a sticky pitch
negated the quicksilver centre partnership of Alex Naylor and James Burke both
were sound with Burke’s defence especially standing up well when tested.
Moortown offered little in terms of skilled rugby. Their only answer to
Skipton’s domination seemed to be aggression outside of the laws and when that
didn’t work they had no plan B and the score line flattered them.
It
was no surprise the first try followed another concerted forward drive. Quick
ball was transferred to full back Sean Kennedy who skipped over the mud and
through the cover creating the space for Oldfield to deliver the scoring pass
to the predatory Petterd. It was not to be Naylor’s day with the boot and his
attempted conversion crashed back off the upright.
The
lead was doubled shortly before half time when winger Richard Curtin pulled
himself together. Seconds after losing the ball over the try line he managed to
wriggle over from close range.
The
third score was a real poacher’s effort from the other wing as Richard Dillon
hacked a loose ball through from near the half way line. Sensing the cover was
slow to react he pushed another perfectly weighted kick ahead and won the race
to the ball with some ease. Naylor missing both conversions was down to the
increasingly difficult conditions underfoot.
Quite
properly rugby clubs are being encouraged to show due consideration to
referees. However it must be said that if Mr Davison had been blowing a trumpet
as opposed to his whistle then Purcell’s estate would have been looking forward
to an increase in the royalty cheque. What was confusing to the intelligentsia on
the touchline was how, despite his cacophony, he missed so much skulduggery
from Moortown and the only times he produced yellow cards were after Meki
decided he had had enough of being treated as a punch bag, Meki’s card giving
the returning John Firth a brief taste of action and he in turn treating
Moortown to a couple of trademark runs which would not have been out of place
in Pamplona, and when Curtin was guilty of a marginal high tackle. How Mr
Davison would have reacted in the days of the legendary Edward ‘Coathanger’
Brown is unimaginable.