Old Brodleians 8 - 5 Pocklington
Pocklington came so close to pulling off a shock win at undefeated Yorkshire Two champions Old Brodleians in the most atrocious of conditions.
Brodleians sloping ground on the side of the Pennines near Halifax can be a bleak place even on a nice day, and has been an integral part of the Brod's success this season. It has seen them win all 20 of their league games - many by big margins - and be crowned champions with five games to go. But on Saturday the conditions were at their most inclement, with heavy rain throughout, a greasy surface underfoot, intense cold, and a strong wind.
Yara Phosyn sponsored Pocklington also fielded an understrength side, with several players away in sunnier climes. But the patched up squad rose to the challenge to put in a performance of true grit that almost stole the honours.
Pocklington played downhill in the first half, but horizontal rain and blustery winds reduced handling ability to a minimum, and the slope advantage was further diminished with a string of refereeing decisions going against them. The spate of early penalties saw Brodleians kick themselves ahead after just three minutes, and the home side got a further boost when Pock centre, Guy Wilson, was sin-binned for not rolling away in the tackle.
Despite being a man down, Pocklington raised their efforts to take the game to the home side, with their strong running back row to the fore. They established a foothold in Brods territory, and back to full strength went hard for a score. It eventually came in the 37th minute when a clever box kick from scrum half Ben Rees left the Brods defence stretched, leaving No 8 and man-of-the-match Matt Davies to win a foot race with the home side's winger to slide over the line for the try.
But with half time imminent Pocklington switched off, and when they were harshly penalised at a ruck near halfway Brods kicked to the corner, where a well-controlled lineout enabled the home side to cross the white wash from a 13-man driving maul to make it 8-5.
Brodleians produced a dangerous raid to open the second half, before the Pock pack, with Dan Wilson getting through a mountain of work as an emergency lock, took over to start to control possession. And when Brodleians did occasionally threaten, Pocklington fullback, Tim Drew, made light of the mud and cold to deal calmly with anything the home side threw at him.
Despite now playing up the hill, Pocklington's pack effort in both set and loose meant they spent long periods in the home half. And midway through the second half they camped on the Brods line for a 15 minute spell of intense pressure. However, Pocklington were unable to turn their pressure into points, failing to make the most of a number of opportunities - most notably when they suddenly went wide only to lose the ball as they went over in the corner, then looking clear from a quick tap penalty but being thwarted by a Brods player who escaped with not retiring.
Brodleians now had a player yellow carded but
they showed why they are the champions elect as they produced stout and resolute
defence, and were clearly desperate to go right through the league campaign with
a perfect record. By now the players were so mud-caked that you could hardly tell
them apart, but Brodleians lifted the siege in the closing minutes to take their
turn to attack. This time it was Pocklington that had to defend grimly to keep
the home side out, producing one last effort to hold on through to the final whistle.