ADAM LOVETT gave a man-of-the-match show as high-flying Heworth ARLC Under-17s travelled to a cold and windy Oliver’s Mount and beat hosts Scarborough Pirates 26-10.
The Pirates, bottom of the table, contained two ex-Villagers in Liam Braithwaite and Josh Collins, who both had fine games with Collins scoring a try against his old team.
But Heworth never trailed, with Lovett’s second-half touchdown putting them clear and a last-minute try by the strong-tackling Jason Smith, who was a man-of-the-match contender, sealing a win which leaves the York side top of Yorkshire U17s Youth League division two at the turn of the year.
The sloping pitch made for a game of two halves and the bitterly cold wind did nothing to aid slick ball handling. However, both sides made every effort to play entertaining rugby, with Heworth coping well with the big Scarborough forwards.
Josh Poulter led from the front, with William Barratt, Dave Hayes and Ross Hunter backing him up, while Harry Fogg and Nathan Jamieson ran strongly. Tom Cornforth is also progressing well after his switch from rugby union and looks a good acquisition.
Jack Rowson spotted a break in the Scarborough line and dashed home, with Harry Deighton kicking the first of his three conversions before scoring a spectacular try – the ball being hacked ahead and sitting up nicely for Deighton to dive on it.
Oliver Radford forced his was over to give the York side some breathing space though poor discipline and unforced errors allowed the Pirates back into the game.
To their credit both sides played good rugby in the second half, Lovett and Smith’s tries securing victory.
York Acorn U16s dented high-flying Siddal’s title hopes in Yorkshire U16s League premier division with a 22-16 win in a tough Thanet Road clash.
The wet, muddy conditions looked tailor-made for the Halifax side who boast the biggest pack in the league, but the Acorn lads tackled like tigers to come out on top.
Acorn broke the deadlock when a high kick was knocked down and Josh Potter dived on the loose ball, Ash Robson adding an excellent touchline conversion. Silly penalties gave Siddal good field position and they too scored from a lofted kick.
Acorn kept the pressure up in the second half and increased the lead when a super cross-field kick from Harry Bromwich was gathered by Robson, who dived over and goaled.
Josh Thompson then scored the try of the game. He burst onto a short pass inside his own half and sold an outrageous dummy to round the full-back, Robson converting from in front of the sticks.
Siddal’s huge pack got a bit of momentum up to bag a try but Acorn hit back when hooker Lewis Lord superbly set up winger Potter, meaning Siddal’s late riposte was only consolation.
Acorn props Dave Larkin and Rich Ashton and loose-forward Tom Gurden stood out in a great team show.
Debutant Theo Cieply scored two tries as Selby Warriors U14s made it four wins on the trot with a 46-20 victory at Kippax in their final Yorkshire Junior League division five game of 2012.
The Selby boys only had 12 players and ended with 11 due to a broken collar bone suffered by hooker Sam Hazell, but, facing a full Kippax complement of 13 plus four subs, rose to the challenge with a team ethic standing them in good stead.
Captain Ben Copeland opened the scoring with a typical prop’s try and ended with two touchdowns, but he was outshone by man-of-the-match loose-forward Chaz Fothergill, who showed pace aplenty in scoring a hat-trick.
The Warriors, benefiting from some set plays passed down by the club’s first team coaches in training, also saw Hazell baffle the home side with a mix of runs from dummy half, static passes to his big men and scoots around the play-the-ball, one of which was rewarded with a try.
Three-quarter Cieply broke down the middle for a try under the posts and he bagged another in the second half through the heart of the Kippax line.
From the restart, big centre Jonny Black, from deep in his own 20-metre area, beat the defence on a superb full-length solo try.
Brandon Harris, tireless as the lone half-back, added five conversions to make it 46-0, before Hazell was helped off, with the hosts taking advantage of the extra spaces tiring opposition to make the score respectable.
• Many junior teams’ campaigns are now over, with the new seasons starting in March to coincide with the new amateur summer season.
Selby Warriors U14s will train once a week up to January in the sports hall at Selby College on Mondays, 6pm to 7pm.
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