Rishworthians v Cleckheaton and West Leeds

REDS REACH "SALVER" FINAL AT DRIFFIELD FESTIVAL

Festival fever has hit the under 11?s camp with 3 festivals in as many weeks, Brods last week, Driffield just gone and Telford next week. The Reds travelled the 70 odd miles to Driffield with few expectations but came away with heads held high and a couple of decent scalps under our belt including both of the Yorkshire Cup finalists. With 16 clubs invited we were in the company of some of the best quality teams in Yorkshire and Humberside, and our group pitted us against Malton, Pocklington and York.

Pool Match 1 The Reds 0 - 5 Malton and Norton

Malton were an unknown quantity to the Reds, having only played against them once before in a rushed 5 minutes half time display at Leeds Carnegie. Malton came out of the blocks and inflicted some early pressure on the Reds but our guys were up to the task and defended valiantly with strong tackles. The Reds settled and made good ground of their own, taking play up to the Malton 15 metre line where Will McDonnell took a quick tap penalty and the ensuing phases put the Malton defence under pressure. Half time came with the Rishies confidence on the rise.

Unfortunately the Reds defence was called in to action early on and it took big hits from McDonnell, Charlotte Siddall and Jacob Bower to stem the tide. Malton did however open the scoring when they managed to get to the Reds line and just managed to snuck over. It looked as though McDonnell was going to level the scores when he took another quick tap in his own half and screamed down the right wing before been bundled in to touch yards from the line. Malton would have scored again in the dying seconds but for a superb tackle on the goal line by Jack Davis making the forward spill the ball. Full time was called with Malton winning by a slender margin.

Pool Match 2 The Reds 5 - 0 Pocklington

The second game pitched the Reds against Pocklington. This side beat our friends Sandal in the Yorkshire Cup semi final and lost to the Brods in the final. So the Reds faced another tough opponent.

A good long kick off from Jacob Bower gave our quick boys time to engage the Pock defence from the off and Sam Bake made his mark with a big initial tackle. Both teams played good rugby but I must say that the best one on one tackles came from the Reds with full back Jamie Highley, McDonnell, Bower and Bake making thudding hits. Rishies were not in awe of their opponents and had most of the possession with ?billy burglars? Thomas Cockroft and George Radcliffe ripping the ball in the mauls. The Reds ruck often under performs but today was working wonders allowing quick ball to the backs. Pocklington were impressive when coming forward and it took some resilient Reds defence on the goal line to keep them out just as the whistle blew for half time.

Pocklington started the second half at pace and it took 2 try saving tackles in 20 seconds from scrum half McDonnell to keep them out in the corner. The Reds got back in to the groove and centres Jack Davis and new boy James Robins, running strong and straight, made the hard yards in to the Pocklington 15 metres. Attack after attack upon the Pocklington try line was repelled but with seconds ticking away Will McDonnell picked up from the ruck and dived over the line, 5-0 to the Reds. Players and families in raptures at a wonderful result.

Pool Match 3 The Reds 30 - 0 York

York is another team that has beaten us twice this season, at Land Rover and Sandal festivals. But not today.

Early York pressure was dealt with by the Reds and they then found themselves driving up field to the York line, where they won a scrum and fed Sam Bake who darted through the pack to score. A battling run from McDonnell was continued by Ollie Swales who went over the line only to be held up. The score was increased when ?Rhino? Davis piled over for 10-0. A good return from the restart by Bake allowed Bower to pick up from the ruck but could not manage to go over and there was no further score up to half time.

In the second half the Reds were brimming with confidence and with a scrum won in midfield Sam Bake jinked right, then left, and right again, turned the defence inside out and scored a great solo try. York could not deal with the Reds physicality and this was proven again when Davis barged through the defence from 20 metres to score his second. Will McDonnell was next on the score sheet with a searing run from deep in his own half leaving the defence with no chance of ever catching him. The final nail in the York coffin came from a penalty 5 metres from the York line. A cry from the sideline, ?put a big guy in the corner? was heeded by the scrum half who put the not so big guy Toby Gledhill in at the corner to make the final score 30-0.

With 2 wins out of 3 the Reds came second in their group and were then placed in the semi final of the second tier trophy, the Salver. And guess who we got, our local neighbours, Yorkshire Cup winners Old Brods.

Salver semi final The Reds 5 - 0 Brods

The Reds started the game brightly and played some good hard rugby. But the Brods are not Cup winners for nothing, and they can throw the ball with ease from one side of the field to the other stretching the Reds defence in the process. Strong double tackling from the Reds kept the Brods from their jinking inside runs, but with the first half coming to a close the Reds had to defend a Brods 5 metre penalty heroically on their own line.

The second half began with the front row of Lewis Hilton, Thomas Cockroft and Toby Gledhill winning a scrum against the head which set up the backs for another attack. Brods came back strongly and again had the Reds on their own line, but a superb clearance kick from in goal by McDonnell sent the ball in to touch on the Brods 15 metre mark. The feeling in the crowd was that one score could win this game and how right we all were. A clearance kick from the Brods scrum half was charged down by Bake and the Reds recovered the ball. From the ruck McDonnell picked up, sprinted right and dived in at the corner. The referee ended the match straight away and the Reds had beaten the Yorkshire Cup holders.

Salver final The Reds 5 - 10 Melbourne

The final saw us up against Melbourne, who were a touring team from Derbyshire.

Rishies came out of the traps with intent and had soon gained ground deep in to Melbourne territory. From a phase in midfield Sam Bake threw a glorious dummy before gliding through a gap and passing to his half back mate McDonnell who took the move to the 5 metre line where Bower continued the move but was bundled in to touch. The Reds had possession and territory but could not capitalise. An impressive rumbling maul drove the Red to the try line and we all thought that James Robins had scored but was ruled held up. The score did come after another drive to the line. McDonnell picked up from the scrum and dived through the smallest gap to score.

I don?t know what the Melbourne coach said to his players but they came out for the second half a changed team. They attacked from the off and Bower was called in to make a try saving tackle. They tried the same move again and this time managed to cross the line to level the score. Melbourne crossed the whitewash a further 2 times but firstly knocked on over the line and were then held up. The pressure was now intense and the Reds were becoming tired. Will McDonnell had to make another try saving tackle 2 yards from the line but Melbourne won the game in the final second when Rishies fumbled the ball over their own line and a Melbourne player pounced on the ball. Final score 10-5 to Melbourne.

Tries: Will McDonnell (4), Jack Davis (2), Sam Bake (2), Toby Gledhill.

What started as a nervous opening turned in to a superb day for all assembled. We were very unlucky to lose against Malton and in the final to Melbourne, but the highlights of the day were wins over both Yorkshire Cup finalists without a try against us. This was a very prestigious tournament and I personally think that we showed ourselves to be a team to be reckoned with. Out of the 16 teams on show we came 6th. The guys should be very proud of each other because they showed a lot of bottle and proved to themselves that they can compete with the best of them. Lets do it all again next week at Telford.

Dave Mc