Pocklington 25 - 16 Heath
Phosyn Yara sponsored
Pocklington produced one of their most assured
performances of the season to
beat close rivals Heath, and force the
promotion battle to the last day of
the season.
After Heath won the toss they elected to play against the elements in the first half, challenging Pocklington to build a score while the strong wind was in their favour. After ten minutes the Pocklington were awarded a penalty within Nick Bennett's range, but they saw it rebound off the post and safely into the hands of a defending player. Heath then dominated the rest of the half, with Pocklington doing a good job of snatching points when they had the chance.
The
first score came after 20 minutes when concerted Heath pressure led
to an overlap
on the left flank, and the fullback touching down in the
corner. The conversion
rebounded off the cross bar, to the groans of visiting supporters.
On a rare foray into opposition territory, Pocklington conjured a try from nothing to level the scores. Centre Andy Rowlinson took a neat pop pass from fly half Sandy Mitchell, and skipped round the full back to score under the posts, fullback Bennett converting to put his side ahead.
It was a short-lived lead, however,
as a Heath up-and-under led to
communication problems in the Pocklington defence.
Two players jumped for the kick and collided in almost comic fashion, leaving
the grateful visiting No 8 to collect and score in the left corner. After Heath
missed the conversion, a well-struck penalty from Bennett meant that the two teams
went to half time level on points at 10-10.
A transformed Pocklington emerged from the break, and produced 40 minutes of controlled rugby into the wind. Straight from the restart, the home forwards had the bit between their teeth, with man of the match John-Paul Kelly leading by example, and back rowers Dan Wilson and Scott Littlefair making crucial yards.
It was lock Edward Bean, however,
who sparked the breakthrough for
Pocklington. Picking up from a ruck in centre-field,
Bean charged 20 yards to set up a period of prolonged pressure deep in Heath territory.
The ball was then moved wide from right to left, leaving winger Harry Allen the
simplest plunge over the line to regain the lead. Bennett missed the conversion
but added another penalty five minutes later, before Heath began to creep back
into the game and enjoyed some territorial gains.
However, the strength of Pocklington's defence limited the away team to a series of long-range penalty attempts, and Heath's increasing frustration led to a sin-binning for a high tackle.
With ten minutes to go, the home side's lead was further increased when a textbook move from first phase ball sent right wing Tim Nixon slicing through under the posts for another converted try.
Pocklington were unable to add to their lead after Nixon's try, but they controlled the final ten minutes with great authority, forcing Heath to resort to running the ball from their own try-line more than once as they threw everything into trying to get back on terms. But they got no change from the resolute home tackling as Pocklington made sure of their fifth successive league victory.
It means that the Yorkshire Two promotion battle
goes to the last game of the season on April 14 with a whole host of permutations,
as third placed Pocklington travel to fifth placed Goole, and second meet fourth
when Heath host North Ribblesdale.