UYRUFC 2nd XV took a torrid battering from a strong Durham 3rd team on Wednesday afternoon, ending up on the wrong end of a 65-0 score line.
Durham had their first score within three minutes. York had barely had their hands on the ball when the opposition outside centre used the crash ball to great effect, breaking through the York defence with ease to score. The try was converted to give Durham an early 7-0 advantage.
Two minutes later and Durham had their second try as their centre beat York’s Baz to a high ball and offloaded to 14 who had a simple run in to make it 12-0.
It did not take long for York to find out that this Durham side boasted a very dynamic back line. Their strong running and excellent offloads frequently proved too much for the York defence to handle, to the point that every time the black and gold gained any kind of territory, the men in purple would counter punch with force and York would find themselves defending in their own 22 once again.
York managed to hold off the relentless surge of purple attack for a prolonged period in the middle of the half however, with the forwards winning several penalties in vital defensive positions. Joe Turner made an excellent last ditch tackle to prevent his opposite number from going over before Durham did finally claim their next try.
The Durham forwards turned the ball over inside the York half and their scrum half burst through the York defence straight from the breakdown, evading several tackles to score under the posts, leaving a simple conversion to make it 19-0.
About half an hour in York managed to mount their first attack of the half, as Aaron Rolph made ground down the wing, but the backs were static in the following phase and eventually knocked on under Durham’s defensive pressure.
Durham scored once more before the half was over. York won the ball deep inside their own 22 and decided to run the ball from defence, a decision that proved a good one, as they produced some of their best rugby of the match, despite it being inside their own half. They won a penalty on their own 22 but Deppe, not for the first time, failed to find touch. Durham leapt on this mistake and crashed straight back through the faltering York defence. Their number 19 went over and converted himself to make it 26-0 going into the break.
Unfortunately for York, Durham started the second half as strongly as they had the first, this time scoring even quicker. The Durham hooker broke the defensive line and was halted inches from the try-line. Out of nowhere though, he produced a flamboyant backhanded offload from the floor to set up the easiest of scores for 19, who once again converted himself to make it 33-0.
Not only were the Durham forwards able to produce offloads like this one, but they dominated the scrums too. Combine this with their equally dominant back line and it becomes clear how the score turned out as it did.
Two more quick-fire tries, scored in opposite corners courtesy of their scrum half and left winger took Durham’s lead up to 43 points before the forwards were given a chance to score a try of their own. Having already made around fifteen metres their rolling maul was finally stopped just short of the try-line, leaving a simple pick and drive for one of the second rows to score. The try was converted to give Durham their half-century. 50-0.
Three minutes later and York were hit with a real sucker-punch. Deppe produced an excellent kick to put his side within sight of the try-line but Durham won the ball from the line out and hit back with venom. Within seconds they were down the other end of the pitch and the prop was in support to provide the finishing touches to make it 55-0.
It was the same story minutes later as Durham once again broke away from a strong York position to score again after some good hands in the backs and then in the 75th minute they spread the ball wide and made good use of the overlap to score one final time and round it off at 65-0, leaving the home team battered and bitterly disappointed.
