Skipton RFC 2nd XV Match Report

Skipton 19 – 7 Heath

Playing on a 'swampy' pitch in a blustery, biting wind, this was always going to be a forward dominated game with both sides fielding their share of young players and a smattering of old heads. The Skipton pack clearly had the advantage over the smaller Heath side and used this power to their advantage, taking control at the lineout and scrum. This superiority soon paid off as Paddy Murray crashed over for the first try of the game with Sean Kennedy adding the extras.

For the rest of the first half, playing against the elements, Skipton failed to add to their score and indeed following a well worked move, the Heath scrum half seized a five pointer for his team which was duly converted leaving the match all square at half time.

In the second half with Heath without the wind assistance and, for a period with only 14 men, Skipton gradually ground them down leading to a further two tries from Murray and a further conversion from the mercurial Kennedy.

This was a fantastic team performance with the forwards taking most of the credit – Rick Willsher, Richard Hill, Paddy Murray and Paul Shearer working hard as an imposing set of battering rams. They were expertly backed up by Jamie Riches and Chris Sheehan, along with the defence of the ferocious Ben Hall, James Boynton and Ash Greaves and controlled by half backs Shaun Barraclough and Sean Kennedy. The role of the three quarters in the conditions was limited, regular flanker, Martin Murray, had a solid game and James Wade can consider himself extremely unlucky not to be on the score sheet. Chris Wilkinson as full back tried to thread through the Heath defence on a few occasions but the ground conditions were against him and John Hughes and Ben Davies spent a long afternoon on the wings seeing very little of the ball and, when it did come to them, they were so affected by the prevailing conditions that they struggled to respond to their usual standard.

Yet again, against a team from a higher league, the team acquitted itself admirably. Unfortunately, with the first team at home, the game didn't get the number of spectators it clearly deserved. Credit must also go to the Heath lads for making this such an entertaining match.