YMCA 7 Hullensians 22

(Yorkshire II)

YMCA’s unbeaten tag was blown away by a combination of high winds and a mediocre performance against Hullensians at Laund Hill.

The visitors crossed three times in the opening period, and the YM never really recovered from that, contributing to their own downfall with a string of handling errors and missed opportunities.

There were a number of good individual performances from Russell Barber, Sam Hodge and the two new signings Richard Doyne and Alex Shaw who both looked good when they came off the bench, while prop Mark Lockwood also had a good match, taking the ball up strongly in the loose, before having to go off with an injury in the second half.

Initially YM defended well, but after a 10-minute battering in the teeth of a gale, they were undone when Hull stand-off Goode chipped over the top and outside centre Harding scored near the posts, Goode adding the conversion.

And it was a lead Hullensians were never to relinquish. Indeed they quickly extended it when three minutes later the visitors found themselves with a three-man overlap and winger McCarthey went over in the corner.

Barber cut through on a number of occasions, but the final pass failed to reach the man and midway through the half, Simon Wilson looked set to score after a neat break, but he was hauled down five metres short of the line.

Unfortunately, in trying the keep the ball alive his pass was picked off by a Hullensians player who raced away up field, found support from his forwards and the move finally ended with No8 Conroy crossing for try No3.

Goode’s attempted conversions were blown off course, but a 17-0 lead gave YM a mountain to climb, which suddenly became even steeper, when skipper Neil Walker and scrum half Wilson were both forced off with injuries, and the re-shuffle left YM without a front jumper at the line-outs.

As half-time approached YM began to mount some pressure, and when Barber split the defence open he linked up with centre Chris Williams, who raced to the line to score by the posts, Barber’s conversion putting his side back in the match at the interval.

Full-back Tim Horner and winger Chris Beever combined to go close after the re-start, and YM thought they were right back in the game when winger John Smith scored out wide on the right after a good build-up. However, the referee ruled out the try for an alleged final forward pass.

YM had other chances but failed to capitalise and didn’t use the wind to their advantage. They also conceded penalties and dropped passes as their frustration mounted, while Hull – who went top of the table – concentrated on playing simple rugby.

The visitors finished off the scoring with a try from second rower Jackson late in the game.

YMCA: Horner; Beever, Barber, Williams, Smith; Swift, Wilson; Dyke (S), Dyke (SJ), Lockwood, Tuivunilagi, Hellawell, Hodge, Leone-Mazza, Walker. Subs (all used): Doyne, Shaw, Sellers.