HUDDERSFIELD’S Under 16 side were narrowly defeated by an impressive York side 19-17.
Trailing 12-10 at the break, the away side were unable to turn the game around, though the performance was not without positives.
For the first 15 minutes both sets of forwards looked to assert themselves on the game, with Huddersfield’s front three Nathan Smith, Thomas Knapton and Edward Smith tackling well.
It was York who struck first as a centre broke the Huddersfield tackle and the most Luke Packard and Andrew Cuthill could do was to force the attacker from the centre of the field.
Huddersfield responded and although York gained possession from a scrum, a strong tackle from Oliver Clegg dislodged the ball which scrum half Adnan Nasir seized upon.
Slick passing between Elliot Whetham and Elliot Spiers ended with Thomas Wrigley finishing off the move with a well worked try.
The home side again took the initiative, and Huddersfield were pinned to their try line.
The pressure told on 32 minutes when a hurried pass went to ground and York pounced for an easy try.
The conversion was this time successful, giving them a 12-5 lead.
With just a few minutes of the half remaining a long pass to Ian Nuttall near the touchline almost paid off, though the defender forced the ball into touch.
Huddersfield kept up the pressure from the line out and following good drives from Jack Hartop, Louis Frear and Connor Grundy, Liam Johnson forced his way over for his side’s second try.
Early in the second half a tapped penalty led to Johnson touching down for his second try, while kicker Nathan Smith converted.
Huddersfield then gave away a harmless looking penalty on the halfway line, however, an alert York player took a quick tap and scorched through for a soft try which was converted.
Huddersfield had a late chance to win the game but the final pass to Liam Moran was off the mark.
