YMCA 20

Bridlington 27

(Yorkshire I)

PROMOTED YMCA are still seeking their first victory in Yorkshire I after losing out to Bridlington on their seasonal home debut.

There was little to choose between the two sides in the first half-an-hour at Laund Hill, although the danger signs were there when Bridlington were disallowed a try on 17 minutes for a knock-on. But they were not going to be denied 10 minutes before the interval, when YM’s back line was breached and winger Stirk crossed in the corner.

James Swift did pull three points back in injury time however, when the visitors were penalised for off-side, but stand-off Jamie Muru grabbed a second try for Bridlington from the re-start, which he also converted for a 12-3 lead.

New signing Sean Merrick and Lawrence Sanderson came on for Stuart Dyke and Josh Wrafter in the second half and YM were back in the game, when a catch and drive by the home pack ended with second row Jack Housley crashing over for a try converted by Swift.

But four minutes later, Brid were over again, when winger Burrows breezed down the touchline past would-be tackles from Josh Marshall and Swift before running in-field to touch down near the posts.

Muru surprisingly missed the conversion, which looked like being a crucial miss as YM scrum half Simon Wilson took the ball from the back of a maul and slipped round the blind side to score and reduce the deficit to 20-15.

However, a penalty from Muru from the kick-off and a second converted try by Stirk put the game out of YM’s reach despite a late score from Sam Hodge, who unusually found himself playing on the wing.

YM showed a lot more invention in the second half, but overall need to improve their defence with missed tackles being punished severely at this higher level.

YMCA: Swift; Hodge, Shaw, Williams, Bentley; Marshall, Wilson; Wrafter, Murphy, Dyke (Ste), Dyke (Stu), Housley, Hill, Whitehead, Walker. Subs: Sanderson for Wrafter (40), Merrick for Dyke (46), Morton for Marshall (70).