Acklam 29 Yarnbury 17

YARNBURY had their second row pairing of Ian Maycock and James Falgate back for this crucial Yorkshire One fixture in Middlesbrough and decided to take two half back substitutes in Nathan Benton and Matty Morgan along with prop John Dodgson as forward cover.

Yarnbury had control of the ball from the kick off and decided to run it looking for weakness in the home side backs without gaining territory up the slope.

Acklam fly half Ricky Scott showed his pitch knowledge by pinning the Horsforth side in their own 22 for the early part of the game.

Stand off Danny Pound was clearing his lines but due to the wind was unable to kick the ball any further further than the halfway line.

Acklam probed for space on the narrow pitch and finally scored a try at the right hand corner through winger Chris Malfen on the overlap and full back Jordan Stephenson adding the extras to show Yarnbury they would have to work hard if they were to secure a win.

Yarnbury kept running the ball without gaining any real momentum. Only on one occasion did they break away in the first half when Jack Brown beat the cover. Unfortunately for Yarnbury the final inside pass to the supporting wing forward Russ Gomersall went to ground.

The home side caught Yarnbury offside for an easy penalty which Stephenson converted and added to their try tally on the stroke of half-time after Yarnbury conceded a string of penalties. Hooker Ben Pearson going went over near the posts and Stephenson added the extras for a 17-0 half time lead.

Yarnbury took the fight to Acklam with the slope in their favour with scrum half Charlie Clark and substitute Matty Morgan at fly half.

Yarnbury were able to get good line-out possession and pressed for the points.Will Marshall intercepted a flighted pass to race over and jink under the posts with Pound, who had switched to full back, converting.

The visitors were back in the game and after more pressure Pound kicked a penalty to draw them closer to the home side.

Mistakes and injuries were hampering Yarnbury's progress and centre Chris Walker and prop Jamie Bottle-Potter scored further tries for Acklam with Stephenson adding a conversion.

Yarnbury’s effort was nearly spent before Charlie Clarke escaped from a ruck to claim a try converted by Pound. It was too little, too late to spare them from defeat to the league's bottom team.

The Horsforth club will be anxious to try and ease their relegation fears when they entertain close rivals Bradford Salem at Brownberrie Lane on Saturday. This will coincide with a former players reunion from 1pm. The club is looking forward to seeing as many past players as possible.