Comment

Players were left unrecognisable in the mud

Yarnbury 13 Ilkley 27

With Captain Ben Horner's season finished at Pocklington with a broken shoulder and stand off/full-back Simon Tabb at corporate business at Twickenham the backs still looked a solid line with Stephen Riley back at No 10 to captain the side.

Simon Threlfall was on one wing,Wayne Raynor the other and Ellis Gomersall filled in at full- back.

Andy Butterfield with a long run at prop has now finished his season prematurely with another shoulder injury and Dave Gornell was not available so Dave Hunter came in for only his third game in the second row.

The pitch was a bog after all the recent rain and the heavens opened with the start of the match to make the conditions a lottery and the ball a bar of soap.

Yarnbury had the pressure in the early exchanges and pushed onto the Ilkley line but there was some good defending by the away side and strong tackling from their back row of Hibbs, Mackenzie and Brewer.

The first score came remarkably from turnover ball to Yarnbury just in their half but this was spoilt by a mis-directed pass out from the ruck, the ball was spilled and was collected by Anthony Cadman who moved it well to Brendan Kelley who wrong-footed Wayne Raynor to score in the corner.

This seemed to spurr Ilkley on and they started throwing the ball around and holding on to it in the atrocious conditions. They scored further tries before half-time through Botha, after good mauling from the Ilkley pack, and also from a penalty try after the referee,who had an excellent afternoon throughout, deemed Yarnbury winger Simon Threlfall to have pulled back Ilkley centre Tim Sibanda when the try line beckoned. Both tries were converted by Liam Frost.

Yarnbury replied through Stephen Riley with two penalties after good consistent pressure from the Yarnbury pack with Andy Van Heel and No 8 Wayne Butterfield leading by example in the rucks and mauls giving Ilkley plenty to consider for the second-half.

The conditions deteriorated further after the break and the game became bogged down in midfield with a succession of dropped passes and knock-ons but both sides continued to try and play rugby in a good spirit and with commendable enthusiasm.

Without the soaking rain the spectators would have enjoyed this spectacle. Ilkley scored one try from winger Kelley in the second-half and the best try of the game came at the end of play when Stephen Riley then Danny Thompson and finally Ian Moule backing up crashed over under the posts.

This was converted by Stephen Riley to make the score respectable against opponents from the top of Yorkshire One.

Yarnbury's push for another Shield final will have to wait another year.

9:26am Thursday 20th March 2008

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