Yorkshire Division Two: Old Crossleyans 31 Yarnbury 22

YARNBURY were depleted for this return fixture against their close rivals in what was a re-arranged fixture.

Captain Jason Avison and wingers Joe Pinnock and Graham Maycock were unavailable, as was Dan Penman and second row Ian Maycock.

However, the replacements showed great in what was a full-blooded encounter at Halifax.

Yarnbury brought in props John Dodgson and Paul Kernick and young Tom Warriner to shore up the second row.

The backs were also re-organised, with the versatile Nathan Benton at full back, Tom O'Brien in the centre for Avison and scrum halves Cameron Newby on the wing and Les Crowther in the No 9 shirt.

Referee Nick Leadbeater heavily penalised Yarnbury in the first quarter for holding on in the tackle and being offside, which meant that they were constantly without the ball and were reduced to kicking the ball out of defence.

Crossleyans ran in a quick try, moving the ball up the slope for full back Callum Dunne to go over before converting his own try.

A close-in penalty quickly followed to open up a 10-point gap before Yarnbury managed to mount some attacking moves.

Back row Jimmy Cryan, who was captain for the day, raced through a ruck to score under the posts, silencing the vocal home support, and stand-off Danny Pound converted.

Yarnbury's spread defence was working well to stop the home side's big forwards, but too many penalties were conceded and Dunne calmly slotted three before the break to give the home side a 16-10 lead.

With all the possession from a succession of penalties, Crossleyans should have been much further in front but for a strong defensive performance from the Horsforth side.

Crossleyans went further ahead after the break, again with a try from Dunne, who was on the overlap, and he then kicked a penalty.

However, Yarnbury were looking dangerous with the little ball that came their way, and Martin Rainey continued his scoring in recent games, taking defenders over the line with him as he touched down, with Pound again converting.

The game became even more interesting on the hour after a superb break down the right wing by the speedy Josh Bateson.

He beat several defenders before being pulled down near the line, only for the supporting wing-forward George Bowen to claim the ball from the tackle and score Yarnbury's third try.

Although Pound pulled the conversion wide, Old Crossleyans were only 24-22 in front.

It was anybody's game at this stage, with Crossleyans continuing to spread the play and winger James Wainwright getting several chances to run at the defence, but Yarnbury tackled like demons.

They stopped the hosts from getting their third try until the final minutes when the impressive Ryan Hammond twisted over from close in to put both the win and the losing bonus point out of reach for the Horsforth side.

However, with this spirit and commitment, fourth-placed Yarnbury will be a tough prospect for their remaining opponents this season.