If York had lost their last couple they didn’t show it, taking the lead within three minutes. With the visitors stretched, Will Sharpe found space down the outside to score an early try as York impressed early on. Will Peters’ kick over the defence nearly played in Conan Osbourne as Northumbria struggled to contain their opponents. T
hough a penalty allowed Northumbria to reduce the deficit to two, they found themselves further behind just moments later. A assured exchange of passing left the Northumbria defence in knots as Mike Woods took advantage to score York’s second try of the afternoon with Will Peters converting to make it 12-3.
However, having gone behind, Northumbria grew into the contest, pushing York back with a sustained spell of pressure. Again the hosts conceded a penalty with Northumbria scoring to move within 6. But just three minutes later York ran in another try with Conan Osbourne the scorer to lead 17-6 at the break. Yet the team that had been so comfortable in the opening period failed to emerge after the interval as Northumbria took complete control.
York failed to get out of their own half as the visitors besieged their try line. Their reward came twenty minutes in when a melee of bodies forced the ball over. A last ditch tackle from Rich Rhodes prevented Northumbria from scoring again just moments later as the visitors smelled blood. They were not to be denied, as a bursting run split the York defence to complete an awful five minutes for the hosts as they fell behind for the first time, 17-18.
Having gone behind, York sparked into life as they sought to regain control of a match they were once leading comfortably. Will Peters missed a great opportunity to put York ahead with his penalty off target, but the momentum had swung once more. With a little over ten minutes left, Hugo Watson received the ball just inside the 22, holding off several challenges to run through and score with Northumbria stretched.
With York back in front, it seemed there was a further twist in store as they were pushed back to within yards of their try line. Defending valiantly amidst the scramble that ensued, Northumbria failed to score what would have been a winning try, as York’s resilience won out.
Speaking after the match, Captain Steve Bryant was full of praise for his players. “We have had a couple of defeats recently and a bad one on Sunday,” he said. “We took it to them in the first half and we took a setback but we stepped it up again. To come back and play like that on the Wednesday, that just shows the character that this club is based on.”