Halifax Vandals 5 Yarnbury 34

YARNBURY welcomed back several players for this top versus bottom encounter on the bleak Halifax Moors.

The weather made the conditions extremely tricky so Yarnbury were glad

to have experienced centre James White and forwards Jimmy Cryan and James Falgate back.

The Horsforth side played into the storm-force wind and driving rain in the first half and were soon forced to defend their line.

The Vandals' South African player coach Jamie Bloom kicked his side into a strong attacking position. The home forwards hammered away at the Yarnbury line but could not breakthrough.

From their first attack, Yarnbury scored. They pounced on a loose ball before breaking through the middle of the home defence with skipper Jason Avison scoring a fine try. Jarrod Huss tagged on the conversion.

The pattern remained the same for the remainder of the half. Vandals battered away through their big forwards with Yarnbury defending well and breaking out in devastating fashion.

The gaps in the Vandals defence were exploited again when Avison have an inside pass to right winger Josh Bateman who scored under the posts.

Huss again added the extras.

Yarnbury scored a third try up the exposed right of the home defence. This time left winger Jack Brown appeared on the right and put in a grubber kick which wing forward George Bowen pounced on to score.

Referee Nia Parsonage has indicated the last play of the half when scrum half Nathan Benton had a clearance kick charged down by Arron Carrington who scored an unconverted try.

The second half was littered with mistakes as the conditions worsened and the game deteriorated.

Vandals relied on the clever low kicks of Bloom and full back Jimmy Crowther as they looked to claw their way back into the game.

Yarnbury secured a bonus point with their fourth try. Full back George Oldridge broke out down the left wing and put winger Bateson away with short slick pass. The score was close enough to the posts for Huss to convert.

Further Yarnbury pressure allowed Huss to kick a penalty before Bateson put the seal on the win as he completed his hat-trick of tries.

A high punt from Huss was regathered by Yarnbury with White and Ian Maycock combining to put Bateson over. Huss amazingly managed to convert from out wide into the swirling wind.

White gave an outstanding display of clinical tackling in the centre of the park but Bateson with his hat-trick was the man of the match.