Roses men’s rugby: York 1st XV 57-14 Lancaster 1st XV

 

On a night which promised floodlights, flame jugglers and fireworks, it was the performance of York’s rugby 1st XV that really set Roses 2013 alight, as they produced a scintillating display to crush their Lancaster counterparts 57-14.

Braces from Conan Osborne, Hugh Draycott and Will Sharp were added to by Hugo Watson, Will Ward and Tom Chadwick to ensure UYRUFC’s Roses ambitions got off the ground in the best possible manner.

The club are looking for their fifth straight Roses whitewash, and off the back of such a dominant performance, it would seem foolish to doubt them.

President Hugh Draycott picked up the official Man of the Match award for a dynamic display at hooker, but in reality it could have gone to any of several players.

Tom Chadwick bossed the game from fly-half, whilst Sharp and Osborne were both on flying form on the wings. UYRUFC, however, will not care about individual performances, as their full-time celebrations with the rest of the squad proved.

It took all of two minutes for York to take the lead. A Tom Chadwick penalty gave his forwards a platform well inside the 22 and they took full advantage.

A rolling maul off Adam Gaskell put them on the tryline and, after two short phases, Hugo Watson’s powerful surge into the gap was greeted with a pop pass from Chadwick for the opening try. Chadwick duly converted to give the home side an early 7-0 advantage.

Lancaster looked flustered and found themselves defending inside their own 22 again just minutes later. A penalty gave them a chance to regroup, however, and a chance to test the York defence.

It proved as shaky as Lancaster’s in the early stages. The men in red worked their way into the York half before winning a penalty and finding touch in the corner. York knocked on in the lineout and a strong Lancaster scrum triggered several phases of forward play on the York tryline.

The defence stood strong until Lancaster scrum half Arthur Haynes decided to utilise his backs to forge a try very similar to York’s opener.

Outside-centre Ed Whyte’s crash over the line was reminiscent of Watson just minutes earlier, and he ably slotted the penalty himself to level the scores.

Attack was triumphing over defence and, pleasingly for the extremely vocal and partisan support, it was resulting in an open and flowing game.

A powerful run from Matt Thorp gave York a chance to hit straight back and Lancaster were again forced back onto their own five-metre line.

The Red Rose managed to turn over but fly-half Harry Roe’s clearing kick was charged down and only a desperate scramble allowed them to touch down behind their own tryline to prevent themselves from falling behind for a second time.

The opening 20 minutes saw both sides opting to use short crash balls at a high intensity, but it was a moment of pure brilliance from Conan Osborne out wide that restored York’s lead.

Osborne received the ball inside his own half and embarked upon a run that lit up the stadium even more than the resulting celebratory pyrotechnics.

From nowhere the York winger turned on blistering pace and surged past several men in exhilarating fashion before finishing well in the corner under pressure. Chadwick slid his conversion just wide of the upright to leave the scores at 12-7.

York had taken full control of the game and they were able to double their points tally before their progress was momentarily halted by the half-time whistle.

First, Will Ward found himself on the end of a well-timed offload to burst through two tackles from outside the 22 and score under the posts, giving Chadwick an easy conversion.

Minutes later, Osborne had his second, and York’s fourth. Lancaster had been suckered in towards the ball and Will Peters spotted the resulting overlap. He slung a long pass out wide to the onrushing Osborne, who beat his man with ease and finished well.

Chadwick pulled his penalty just wide, and his miss was greeted with the sound of the whistle and confirmation that York would go into the break with a 17-point advantage.

York only became more comfortable in the second half, as they continued to keep the broken scoreboard tamely flickering over.

Hugh Draycott picked up the first try of a second-half brace just three minutes into the half when he battered his way through three of the Lancaster defence and surged over the line after an initial break from Will Sharp had set up a quickfire York attack.

Chadwick’s conversion made it 31-7 before Lancaster were able to make a small dent in York lead. Captain Huw Marsden broke several tackles and Ed Whyte powered his team closer to the line before flanker Luke Dilley capitalised on some stand-offish tackling from the York defence to go over.

Whyte converted, but his side knew that this would have to be the start of a huge turnaround if they were to get anything out of the game.

As it was, York totally shut out their Lancastrian counterparts for the remainder of the game and turned it into a rout.

Tom Chadwick made it 36-14 when he fleet-footedly danced his way past three to go over. He was unable to convert his own try but it was to be of no importance.

Draycott got his second try ten minutes later. Sam Durno almost burst over in the corner only to knock the ball on on the five-metre line. A strong York scrum forced a lineout however, and Draycott received a pop off the top and powered over.

Chadwick duly converted, and the champagne moment of the second-half followed just a few minutes later.

York produced a 20-metre rolling maul from a line-out to force Lancaster back onto their own tryline. Ward kept up the tempo by spreading the ball to Tom Chadwick, and the fly-half popped Will Sharp into a gap in the floundering Lancaster defence.

Sharp caught the ball in his outstretched arm and at full speed, he was never going to be stopped. His try under the posts gave Chadwick the simplest of conversions which brought up the York half century.

A yellow card shown to Sam Morrison for deliberately slowing down play slowed down York’s rampant mood very briefly as Lancaster mounted their first real attack in half an hour.

However, the York defence was equal to their efforts, pushing the men in red back at close quarters before an error out wide put an end to their attempts at stealing a consolation.

York rubbed it in further and put a cherry on top of an already glossy scoreline with the final play of the game.

With Lancaster still in York territory, Will Sharp seized upon an errant pass and glided down the wing in front of the rapturous home crowd, before splashing over under the posts.

Chadwick’s conversion rounded off the scores at 57-14, as the kick was met with a chorus of music from the sound system and a shower of confetti, signalling the first stage of a hopeful fifth straight whitewash for UYRUFC complete.

York: 15. Sam Durno, 14. Conan Osborne, 13. Hugo Watson, 12. Will Peters, 11. Will Sharp, 10. Tom Chadwick, 9. Will Ward, 1. Tristan Burd, 2. Hugh Draycott, 3. Fraser Kirkley, 4. Harry Pampiglione, 5. Sam Lord (c), 6. Adam Gaskell, 7. Matt Thorp, 8. Blair Nangle.

Lancaster: 15. Elliot Fowler, 14. Matt Barrett, 13. Ed Whyte, 12. Rob Field, 11. Chris Weeks, 10. Harry Roe, 9. Arthur Haynes, 1. Craig Brown, 2. Niall Parkhill, 3. James Hearn, 4. Jake Hawkins, 5. David Ainslee, 6. John Kuhn, 7. Luke Dilley, 8. Huw Marsden.