Dinnington 25 - 24 Pocklington
Pocklington
went down to an agonizing defeat at Dinnington, where the
home side scored
twice in stoppage time to steal the result.
Pocklington were down to the bare bones of a team due to injuries and unavialabilities - they were missing no fewer than 15 1st XV squad members and had to cancel the Panthers' game after calling up a raft of second teamers. But despite their makeshift lineup, which included Panthers' second row, Ed Bean, playing as an emergency wing, they stunned Dinnington, and perhaps even themselves, by storming into a 21 point lead inside the first quarter.
Playing with and slope and strong wind, Phosyn Yara sponsored Pocklington made the most of their early opportunities and went ahead in the sixth minute. They were on the defensive, but when Dinnington dropped the ball Pocklington swarmed upfield and flanker Alex Stuart kicked on a loose ball to win a 60 yard chase for the touchdown, Nick Bennett converting. Soon after the Pocklington forwards set up a quick ruck and centre, Guy Wilson, blasted through in midfield on a 30 yard diagonal charge to the line, Bennett again converting.
And Pocklington
maintained the momentum to add a third score as lock
Stew Rowley's charge
turned defence into attack and Steve Wilcock added support. Dinnington killed
the ball on the retreat, and Pocklington kicked the penalty to the corner for
the pack to unstoppably drive over and hooker, Dave Birch, to claim the touchdown,
Bennett's third conversion making it 21-0.
The game settled down into a midfield war of attrition, with the wind making fluent play difficult. But in the 35th minute Dinnington got their show on the road with a try in the corner from a wheeled scrum.
Pocklington came back and their man-of-the match, Bennett, kicked a penalty for holding on. But play went quickly to the other end and though Dinnington initially dropped the ball with the line begging they held the position and went over for a forward try in the fifth minute of first half injury time to make it 24-10 at the interval.
Dinnington kicked an early
second half penalty and Pocklington spent
long periods pinned in their own
22. Despite defending resolutely, they showed their inexperience at times, occasionally
over elaborating on a day that called for a simple approach. But they kept Dinnington
at bay, with Wilson making an exceptional, try-saving cover tackle, and Birch
and replacement, Paul Rhodes, leading the forward endeavours.
Dinnington broke free only to lose the ball when clear, then Pocklington's forwards drove the ball back but Bennett saw a penalty attempt on goal blow off course by the wind.
Though Pocklington lost a forward to the sin bin in the last seconds of normal time, they were still 11 points to the good at the end of 80 minutes.
However,
the referee still found a remarkable nine minutes of stoppage time to add on,
and the home forwards used their man advantage to drive over for a converted try.
Dinnington suddenly scented an unlikely victory. Pocklington did their utmost
to hold out, but the home side ran everything until they made the space to move
the ball left then switch play back right and go over in the corner for their
last-gasp, 89th minute winner.