Skipton 43, Old Rishworthians 0

A wonderful treat of fast-flowing, attacking rugby was served up by Skipton to the large crowd at Sandylands on Saturday.

On a chilly but bright afternoon, Skipton welcomed Old Rishworthians for the first game between the clubs for many years.

Old Rishworthians have been promoted for the last three seasons. However, Skipton have themselves had an excellent season so far, so the home crowd were expectant before this Yorkshire Division Two game.

With traffic problems arising from the closure of the A59 causing referee Andy Hodgson to arrive later than expected, Old Rishworthians kicked off.

However, the kick went straight into touch, so it was scrum back to Skipton at the centre spot, and the opportunity to take the game to the opposition.

And this they did, with the game being played in the Rishworthian half for several minutes until a penalty was awarded to Skipton for going over the top in the ruck. Alex Naylor’s fell a few feet short.

The 22 drop-out gave the ball back to Skipton, but a knock-on led to a powerful run from No 8 Clarke from the base of Rishworthians’ scrum.

However, an excellent tackle from opposite number Martin Murray got him down, and aggressive counter-rucking from the mobile Skipton forwards gave them the turnover.

The ball was whisked out by scrum half Shaun Barraclough to fly half Alex Naylor, who took the ball forward and a well-timed pass out to left wing Rob Davy gave him the opportunity to power through and score a try in the corner.

And it didn’t take long for Skipton to add to the scoreline. Rishworthians restarted with a kick into the Skipton 22, and the ball was passed to speedy winger Lucas Wootton, who jinked his way through the opposition into the other half of the pitch before being caught.

But the forward support was quickly there, and the ball was sweetly passed out down the line.

Full back Gavin Ackers-Johnson came into the line to give an overlap to winger Davy, who was tackled within inches of the try-line.

Nevertheless, captain Matt Speres was in close support and coolly picked up the ball and scored, managing to get under the posts to ease Naylor’s conversion for 12-0.

A few minutes later, a long 50-metre clearance kick into touch from Wootton gave Skipton territorial advantage once again, and although Rishworthians won their line-out, an offside from the kick gave Skipton a penalty.

Spurning the kick at goal, they kicked for touch and the line-out was won cleanly and the ball passed out to the backs.

They got close and the ever-present Speres picked up the ball from the tackle and got over the line but was held up.

However Skipton now had a five-metre scrum, and the front row won the ball, allowing Matt Murray to pick up from the base and power his way over for another try, Naylor’s extras making it 19-0.

Ten minutes later, Skipton forced a mistake which gave them the scrum. This was won, and both Wootton and Ackers-Johnson chased a long kick from experienced centre Darren Howson.

They say that any kick is only as good as the chase, and both were good here. Wootton and Ackers-Johnson quickly closed down the defence and stopped them counter-attacking.

The forwards got there, and although Rishworthians tried to kick the ball clear, Wootton charged it down and scooped the ball up, pouncing over the line before racing under the posts and touching down.

Naylor’s conversion made it 26-0, their try bonus point coming before the half-time whistle. Davy limped off early in the second half to be replaced by Lee Shaw.

Skipton had a penalty and a line-out, which was won and the ball fired out to the backs.

Once again the ball was moved quickly by Howson and newcomer James Bagnall to full back Ackers-Johnson, who came into the line again and got within inches of a try.

The ball was quickly recycled and Speres sped over for another try, Naylor’s kick making it 33-0.

Skipton made two further replacements, with Grayston replacing Ryan Binner and Patrick Murray coming on for Chris Sheehan.

The Skipton forwards immediately won a Rishworthians line-out, and the backs then showed some lovely interpassing moves to take play 50 yards forward into the Rishworthian half.

Rishworthians had a scrum, but Skipton pushed them back, making for untidy possession, and Patrick Murray brought down Clarke, allowing the Skipton back row to turn over the ball, and fly half Naylor dropped a goal for 36-0.

Two minutes later, the home forwards gained possession and fly half Naylor broke upfield, looking for the supporting Shaw.

He took the ball into the opposition 22 and the ball was again quickly recycled, being moved to the right wing where Speres picked up to race over for his hat-trick try. Naylor’s conversion made it 43-0.

A few minutes later, Rishworthians attacked down the left wing, chipping the ball over Wootton, but it was fly half Naylor, playing possibly his best game in recent seasons, who raced back to collect the ball and kick clear.

Skipton remain fourth after this excellent team performance as all the other top teams won.

The front row of Mellin, Sheehan, Binner and Grayston were powerful in both tight and loose and were the foundation of the powerful scrum-maging in the second half.

Second rows Ingham and Willsher were imposing in the line-out and carried powerfully.

The back row of Speres, Boatwright, Martin and Patrick Murray exerted their command, Boatwright making countless tackles and being forever first at the loose.

Barraclough did exactly what was required of him, moving the ball quickly from the ball-winning forwards to the attacking backs, Bagnall showing flair when attacking yet being ferocious in defence.