Hosts Scarborough RUFC earn third spot in table with Pontefract win

Joel Little in action as Scarborough RUFC saw off Pontefract RUFC Photos by Paul Tait

Matty Jones named an unchanged starting XV for the first time this season and his side were forced into some early defending in the opening exchanges of the game, writes Charlie Hopper.

The match continued to be played in the middle of the park before the first points of the afternoon were scored in the 16th minute.

Scarborough winning a penalty and fly-half Tom Ratcliffe making light work of it to give his side a 3-0 lead.

Aaron Wilson scores a try for Scarborough RUFC

Just minutes later, the visitors were reduced to 14 men after a high tackle from Bailey Matthews.

But Pontefract managed to take the lead in the game 10 minutes later. Rich Hossack broke through the defence and headed towards the corner before offloading to centre Craig Fawcett, who scored.

The conversion dropped short for 5-3.

On the brink of half-time, Jones’ side retook the lead through Aaron Wilson.

He collected the ball, found a gap between two defenders and paced his way to score under the posts.

Ratcliffe added the extras for 10-5.

The second half started in similar fashion, with both sides exchanging handling errors in a cagey affair.

Pontefract reduced the deficit in the 50th minute after Harry Wollaston kicked a penalty for 10-8.

With the game now very finely poised, hosts Scarborough stretched their advantage courtesy of a converted try.

Centre Joe Marshall caught the ball, dinked his way through the defence and reached for the line for 17-8.

The remaining 20 minutes of the match saw the visitors pile on the pressure, coming close on numerous occasions.

They finally managed to break the Scarborough defence in the 66th minute.

The dangerous scrum picked up pace, before the ball was worked along the line with winger Ciaran Tucker scoring in the corner.

The conversion sailed wide to leave it 17-13 with 15 minutes to play. Scarborough managed the final exchanges of the match well to pick up their fourth win in a row in the league.

The Silver Royd outfit welcome Old Brodleians to Silver Royd on Saturday as they look to continue their climb up the Regional 2 North East table.

Scarborough RUFC: 1 Vytautuas Mudingis, 2 Jordan Holloway, 3 Richard Scales, 4 Aaron Wilson, 5 Will Leah, 6 Will Rennard, 7 Euan Govier, 8 Drew Govier (captain), 9 Alex Rowley, 10 Tom Ratcliffe, 11 Tom Makin, 12 Joel Little, 13 Joe Marshall, 14 Tom Anderson, 15 Connor Ward. Replacements: Tom Read, Will Vasey & Tom Harrison.

Pontefract RUFC: 1 Ethan Potts, 2 Tim Pickersgill, 3 Stevie Anderson, 4 Brodie Matthews, 5 Bailey Matthews, 6 Callum Rodgers, 7 Leo Harrison, 8 Sam Millard, 9 Harry Wollaston, 10 Rich Hossack, 11 Lucas Ketteridge, 12 Harry McAllister, 13 Craig Fawcett, 14 Ciaran Tucker, 15 Rich Dedicoat. Replacements: Josh Hough, Steve Reynolds & Andy Coleman