By Alex Finnis
York’s 2nd XV followed up the heroic successes of the 1st XV’s Friday night triumph and the 3rd XV’s earlier victory with a confident 19-11 win over their Lancastrian counterparts, sending an emphatic message to those of the red rose contingent who claimed they would ‘dominate’ UYRUFC over the course of the weekend.
The game’s opening was tense, with both sides clearly understanding the importance of a win, and it was Lancaster who had the first chance to open the scoring. They drove their way towards the York try-line, making use of short pop passes to counter the strong billows of wind, and forced their opponents to concede a penalty, which the Lancastrian fly-half put wide of the posts from an inviting position.
York struck back, with Will Ward and Niall Walsh combining to break away into the Lancaster half, but the ball was turned over and Lancaster won another penalty. They made no mistake this time, and duly took a 3-0 lead.
Frequent mistakes were costing York in the game’s early stages, with too many knock-ons and conceded penalties gifting Lancaster with possession. The white rose attacked their opponents straight from the restart and captain Jack Eastwood broke the line powerfully, but the ball was again fumbled in the subsequent play and the chance was gone.
York continued to press, and this time they made no mistake in attack. A lovely little offload from second-row Sam Lord allowed York to break down the blindside and win a penalty on the opposition 22. Paul Guest found touch and York continued to drive towards the line. Adam Gaskell eventually broke through and offloaded to his fellow flanker Mikey Ager, who went over to make it 5-3 and give York the lead for the first time in the game.
It wasn’t long before the white rose increased their advantage either. Paul Guest dummied superbly and hit a gap in the Lancaster defence, before offloading to Ben Turner, who used the overlap to set free ‘The Wizard’ Niall Walsh. Walsh sprinted over to score, and Turner added a further 2 points with his conversion, giving York a 12-3 advantage.
Lancaster’s main point scoring threat in the first half came through penalties, and they added a further 3 points through this medium, making the scores 12-6 at half time, with York playing the better rugby and looking good value for their lead.
York rang the changes in the pack early in the second half, with Hugh Draycott, James Phillips and Greg Walsh all coming on, but it is the backs who take all the credit for the next try. A fantastic interception from Paul Guest put him in space once again, and he completed a tricky pass to his inside centre Ryan Johnston, who went over to claim the points his performance deserved. Turner once again converted, despite the wind, and York now held an imposing 19-6 lead over their Lancastrian rivals.
To their credit though, Lancaster didn’t give up, and instead went on to register their first try of the game. After a penalty kicked to touch set them up inside the York 22, the Lancaster backs spread it wide and scored in the corner, taking the scores to 19-11. The kicker can hardly be blamed for missing a near impossible chance to convert from such a tight angle and with the wind blowing in the wrong direction.
For a short time, the white rose looked slightly rattled, they missed tackled and allowed the Lancaster number 5 to make good ground straight from the kick off. Turner then failed to claim a kick high into his territory, but they were not made to pay, as the penalty resulting in this Lancaster pressure fell short of the posts and the scores remained unchanged.
The Lancastrians continued to fight, however, and before long they were back on the York five metre line and threatening to set the game up for a nail-biting conclusion. Things began to look even more worrying for York when Carr-Archer was sin-binned, but they defended resolutely and refused to allow their rivals back into the game. Paul Guest kicked well clear and regained the momentum for his side.
Lancaster were soon reduced to fourteen themselves as they struggled to legally ward off the renewed York pressure, and from this moment on, the white rose looked assured of claiming a vital two points for their university. They stayed solid right up until a much delayed final whistle, and deservedly celebrated a 19-11 victory which captain Jack Eastwood said they ‘felt under pressure’ to achieve ‘since the 1sts and 3rds both won’.
‘The defence was solid and we played well’, he said, ‘we followed our plans’. All in all another excellent victory for York rugby, and they will no doubt be looking forward to building on this 15’s whitewash by claiming all the points in Sunday’s sevens matches to come.