Aireborough 62,Roundhegians 12

After being given such a hard time by Roundhegians in the EDF Vase only a few weeks ago Aireborough will have been somewhat surprised to almost have this game dead and buried after only 11 minutes.

Aireborough have been improving steadily over the last few weeks after regaining much of their injured players and this game may indicate the side is back to its best.

Rather than previous weeks, almost all aspects of Aireborough's game were performed to the highest level, with certain players putting in some real effort all the way through.

Hooker Nick Jackson, flanker Nathan Smith and winger James Druce all impressed, whilst it's hard to comment on the opposition who appeared much changed from previous encounters.

Whilst it wasn't all one-way traffic, Aireborough recorded three equally first-class tries early doors. Nathan Smith went over after throwing the dummy towards the winger, whilst James Druce pulled off two tries, one of which came from the counter attack deep into his own half.

At times, the away side began to use a large pack to their advantage and eventually saw their efforts being rewarded with a try after 20 minutes, although the referee's positioning may have had something to do with this. James Druce completed the first-half for Aireborough with a hat-trick topping touch down.

Into the second-half and Aireborough continued to build on their 28-12 lead. In the rucks Aireborough were dominant and with the wind they capitalised with kicks. Tony Smith and Craig Stanley stood still in the centres whilst defending, although the best tackle of the game went to prop Simon Carbutt, who managed to side swipe the referee in a valiant effort to get the ball.

Craig Stanley strolled through under the posts soon after the second-half start; centre Smith claiming the assist from the simple switch. More tries followed from Anthony Clitheroe (2) as he used his pace and side-step combination whilst former Leeds Rhinos Academy player Stanley again crossed the whitewash.

Roundhegians bounced back only once from conceding to claim another forward orientated score, however Aireborough full-back James Stocker's ten out of ten conversion record and two penalty conversions finished off the game in style and finalised a slick winning margin of 62-12.

Halifax B 19 Dragons 23 Playing only their second game of 2007, Aireborough seconds were looking to kick start their year. Unfortunately the day got off to a bad start when Halifax called to say they had no referee - luckily Tony Exley was going to watch and bravely volunteered to use his years of experience to officiate.

The game got off to a lively start with the pack producing some great ball for half-backs Tom Holdsworth and Stewart Williams to set up some strong runs from the visitors, especially Andy Pickup. As a result of this pressure Aireborough scored two quick tries from right winger Chris Blackshaw who beat half the Halifax team for his second try.

These scores seemed to lull Aireborough into relaxing and the hosts bounced back with a breakaway try and then another through some weak tackling to take an unlikely half-time lead.

Some stern words galvanised the whole team and the pack upped their game with the likes of Richie Helm, Paul Exley and Johnny Mackey in the thick of it. Some good tactical play saw fly-half Williams pen the hosts back with some good kicking and this pressure led to a typical try from Paul Exley, although many doubted he had grounded the ball.

With the lead restored Aireborough started to play some good rugby with some strong runs from Kiwi winger Aaron Dunn and Aussie Hayden Stewart. This led to a great try from centre James Kinghorn who shimmied to the left and then to the right before going through the gap and setting the crowd alight to touch down in the corner.

Aireborough conceded a late try but the victory had been sealed. Some serious training is required though to push the team higher up the merit league.

Yarnbury 8,Thornensians 0

On a pitch that was in better condition than expected after the heavy usage of recent weeks, albeit with shades of Scarborough beach in places, a good game was in prospect from two aggressive sides.

As it turned out the game became a rather one-sided event with Yarnbury having 90 per cent of the play and territorial advantage but failing to convert this into points, a trend that seems to have infected the home side for some time.

Thornensians best defence turned out to be Yarnbury's unforced errors. Thornensians performed well in the line which denied Yarnbury possession when numerable penalties, awarded for persistent off-side, were taken to touch in the opponents 25 instead of opting for a scrum and retention of the ball.

A Yarnbury strength was in its forwards' driving mauls but when the ball was released to the backs too many moves crabbed cross field and made a simple push into touch a soft option for the defence.

A well-taken try in the corner by Mennell put the home side on the scoresheet and an excellent drop goal, also from Mennell, meant the visitors had to score twice. Yarnbury were allowed to keep the visitors to nil when a penalty awarded on one of their rare forays into Yarnbury territory drifted past the post.