Yarnbury 16 York 12

YARNBURY scored 13 unanswered points to snatch victory in a close encounter with a York side which had replaced them in third place in the table.

The conditions at Brownberrie Lane were perfect on an afternoon when the home side had Danny Pound playing at stand off with Stephen Riley alongside him at inside centre.

Yarnbury made an inauspicious start when their kick off didn’t travel the required ten metres. From the resulting scrum, York worked the ball into the Yarnbury 22 and were awarded a penalty which George Davies stroked over for a 3-0 lead.

It was the start of a productive afternoon for the York full back.

It didn't take Yarnbury long to level the scores. York knocked on and from the resultant scrum and were then caught offside as Yarnbury probed for an opening. Pound slotted the penalty from 40 metres.

The next half hour of the game saw a flurry of penalties awarded against the home side for diving in with the ball on the ground or not rolling away quick enough at the tackle which Davies exploited. He landed three more goals to establish a 12-3 lead.

Pound was out of luck for Yarnbury when his penalty from 40 metres dropped just short.

Yarnbury’s frustration was compounded when hooker Tom Gilchrist was yellow carded in the 38th minute. Obligingly the referee then yellow carded the York scrum half Matt Hargreaves a minute later.

Yarnbury took the game strongly to York in the second half with some punishing runs by the big home forwards Jimmy Cryan, Joe Bennett and Greg Trencher putting them on the front foot.

The pressure Yarnbury were exerting finally told. Yarnbury won clean possession from a scrum five metres from York’s line and set up a series of driving mauls which led to a score for second row Ian Maycock. Pound added the extras and Yarnbury were back in the game.

The flow of the game was disrupted by a constant stream of penalties awarded against both sides. As the clock ticked down, Yarnbury were becoming the dominant side and a couple of scoring chances were fluffed when the final pass either went forward or was dropped.

Finally, Yarnbury took the lead on the hour when Pound knocked over one of the many penalty opportunities awarded by the referee.

York, sensing the game was slipping away, redoubled their efforts and took the game to Yarnbury, who had to defend as if their lives depended on it.

Wave after wave of attacks were resisted and finally a breakout led to play being taken back to the York try line. The visitors defended stoutly until the referee spotted an offside in midfield in the sixth minute of injury time. Pound stepped up to register his fourth successful kick, much to the delight of the home followers.