Old Brodleians RUFC

With the sun straining to break through the heavy overhead clouds, Brods travelled to Scarborough with the wind in their sails following a well earned victory against Malton the week before. Early optimism was somewhat dampened, however, when Scarborough opened the scoring from their first attack of the game. A simple ball through the centres saw their hard running second row, Will Rennard, bust a tackle and offload to Drew Govier who scored the easiest of tries, which was converted to give Scarborough a 7-0 lead.

To add insult to injury, or injury to insult, young Joe Underwood left the field as a result of the midfield clash and Brods were already reshuffling their already reshuffled team following Loketi Manu's late withdrawal.

The Scarborough ten was not for messing about in his own half, and repeatedly pushed Brods back with his not insubstantial boot which lead to Brods having to carry hard to make metres. Ashton, Murphy, Craven and Kafatolu all carried well to give Brods some momentum and when they received a penalty following a strong run by Michael Briggs they were able to kick to the corner on 13 minutes.

Scarborough had little answer to the Brods impressive driving maul and it was soon 7-7 when Joe Kafatolu crashed over.

Parity did not last long and Scarborough soon raced to a 21-7 lead. The Brods midfield were struggling with the movement and pace of the Scarborough Backs. Euen Grovier raced away to score their second of the afternoon, and minutes later another simple midfield move saw Tom Ratcliffe waltz through untouched to bag their third.

Not ones to give up, Brods continued to carry well, with some good continuity and Briggs Snr and Millington attempting to regain a midfield footing. Both made breaks which took the Woodhead men into the Scarborough 22. What penetration they were finding in the forwards was not being mirrored in the backs and Scarborough were able to press Brods into mistakes and snuff out their attacking intent.

The Ashton boys, a break from Piggy Jr and some fancy footwork from Wroot Snr did eventually get them in striking distance, and a scrum close to the opposition line saw Brods shunt the Scarborough pack almost into the sea and a well-deserved penalty try was awarded, bringing the half to a close.

Scarborough started the second half by conceding a yellow card, and Joe K left the field to be replaced by Joe Seeley. Brods then duly marched the Scarborough back from the 22 at a rate of knots and for one glorious moment the comeback was on when once more Scarborough infringed and conceded another penalty try.

But alas it was not to be as Scarborough wrestled back control with 2 more tries. The first saw their forwards drive through the Brods and score near the posts and a second saw another midfield break, orchestrated by their impressive 10, and the score was soon 33-21.

Brods still sensed there may be a bonus point or two up for grabs, but it was Scarborough who were to forge further ahead following some great defensive efforts from Wroot Jr. A Scrum saw them work the ball wide and quicker than a tenner in a seaside 2p slot machine all was lost and their impressive backline worked the space for their winger to crash over in the corner to make it 40-21.

Brods did however have the last say on the scoreboard after Ackroyd rolled back the years and an arcing run of Olympian beauty saw him put the team into the opposition half, and an ensuing penalty saw them kick once more for the corner. The pack once more drove Scarborough backwards with ease and a final converted score saw the match end 40-28 with a try scoring bonus point the only thing to show for their efforts