IT was a day to remember for Yarnbury RUFC as they claimed their first cup prize after beating Wetherby 21-13 in a full-blooded Yorkshire Silver Trophy final.

Yarnbury had appeared in three finals, two Yorkshire Shield finals and recently at Twickenham in the National Cup competition, since the 1970s, losing all three in close exiting contests pressure games.

But on Saturday at Ripon, Yarnbury overcame a belligerent opponent in Wetherby, who are renowned for their size and go forward approach through their pack.

Yarnbury started well, but gave away a cheap penalty for off-side and Wetherby full-back Oates hit the post.

Yarnbury came storming back and wing forward George Bowen was pulled down short by a determined defence after an earlier five metre line-out for a Wetherby offence came to nothing when the opponents turned over the ball near their own line.

The game was a physical affair with a trophy involved and the tension was felt around the Ripon ground by both sets of supporters.

Yarnbury set the pace and their young backs tried to spread the play, but the tension in the players in the first quarter was seen as mistakes disrupted the play.

When second row James Falgate was sin-binned for a technical offence, Wetherby seized their chance after 25 minutes with a pushover try by Francisco Stuven-Ortelli against the weakened Yarnbury pack. Oates missed with the conversion, hitting the right hand post.

The second quarter belonged to Yarnbury as they went after the opponents with a vengeance.

Wetherby kicked out of defence at their peril, giving space to the Yarnbury back three of Kyle McCauley and wingers Graham Maycock and John Bateson, who were a handful for the covering defence.

When Wetherby committed a foul from a quick tap penalty that stopped McCauley from scoring, referee Mark Smith awarded a penalty try to Yarnbury after several infringements.

Yarnbury were unlucky not to extend their lead further as Marshall and winger Bateson split the Wetherby defence down the right, only for Bateson to be tapped down with the line beckoning.

Yarnbury were in to their stride and took further advantage before the break, with the forwards making ground down the middle for wing forward George Bowen to get on the end of the move to score Yarnbury’s second try. Stand-off Will Marshall converted to extend the lead to 14-5 at the break.

After the restart, Yarnbury's backs were caught off-side and Oates cut the lead with a penalty, then Danny Pound on at the break missed a speculative penalty on 50 minutes when maybe a kick to the corner would have been another option.

Wetherby were not beaten and had plenty of go forward and found space down the left for winger Andrew Trotman to get over in the corner for an unconverted try to close the gap.

A grandstand finish saw Yarnbury attack down the middle through forwards Ian Maycock, Tom Goldthorpe and Falgate, who slipped the ball to the supporting Pound to score near the posts to send the crowd and players into uproar as he converted his own try, putting Yarnbury two scores in front.

Unfortunately, Pound could not extend the lead five minutes from time when a long-range penalty just missed the right hand post.

It did not matter, as the trophy was going to Brownberrie Lane, and the celebrations at the final whistle were possibly heard around the county.

Congratulations to both teams for a full-blooded encounter and to the opponents, who were gracious in defeat.

Hopefully, the final win will calm the nerves for a possible National Cup entry next season.