W 31 - 3

By Dave Campbell

Scarborough confirmed their top-spot in North One East with a convincing five try to nil victory over Bridlington in the much anticipated Yorkshire Coast derby at a bitterly cold Silver Royd.

With a south-easterly gale blowing from the town end of the paddock Bridlington had first use of the elements and wisely kept things tight spending much of the open quarter in the Scarborough 22. However they failed to breach the home line and came away with only a penalty from fly-half Harvey Morrison to show for their efforts.

Bridlington then conceded a massive ‘own goal’ in the 15^th minute when Scarborough were penalised on their own line when No8 Ben Martin was judged to have killed the ball at a ruck; a melee ensued and referee Richard Arthur sent Bridlington centre Jamie Martin off for punching his namesake Ben who was on the ground at the time.

It could have been much worse for Shaun Fearn’s men as right winger Tom Benninger also ran from distance to get involved in the mayhem. To add insult to injury the whistler then reversed the penalty and Scarborough cleared their lines.

Coach Simon Smith’s charges applied the screw in the visitors 22 in the second quarter and when a wayward Bridlington clearance found Scarborough’s Tom Ratcliffe on half way, the big number ten surged into the Brid red-zone releasing wing Jonti Holloway who powered over in the corner in the 24^th minute. Ratcliffe added the extras for a 7-3 lead,

Following sustained pressure late in the half hooker Sam Dawson charged over in the 37^th minute to stretch the advantage to 12-3 at the break.

Playing with the wind Scarborough raced to a 17-3 lead when wingman Manning Smith secured the second half kick-off following a Bridlington fumble and took off on a mazy run from the brid ten metre to the try line to touch down, waltzing round four defenders on the way.  

Coach Shaun Fearn’s depleted side showed their commitment and spirit as Scarborough failed to drive home their numerical advantage in the third quarter. The SilverRoyders found it difficult to maintain possession into the wind in bitterly cold conditions.

A second try by Sam Dawson at the right corner flag secured the bonus points for Scarborough in the 67^th minute and Ratcliffe’s conversion stretched the lead to 24-3. Replacement centre Billy Parker barged over in the 78^th minute to seal the  deal at 31-3 and the Christmas festivities began.

Although the Seasiders stuttered after the break they did score five tries with Parker’s late effort bringing the try-count for the first half of the season to seventy!

Scarborough were hampered by an injury to livewire scrum-half Jordi Wakeham whilst Bridlington were undoubtedly stymied by the sending off of Martin; however that was  a self-inflicted injury as a result of their own lack of discipline.

Scarborough

Tries: dawson x 2, smith, holloway, parker

Conversions: ratcliffe x 3

Bridlington

Penalties: morrison

Teams

Scarborough: perrett holloway wilson young smith ratcliffe wakeham jones dawson cutino hicks robinson e.govier d.govier martin
Substitutes: core brown parker (all used)

Scarborough News "Man of the Match": tom hicks

Another dynamic display saw Tom at the heart of the defensive and attacking Scarborough action. With second row partner he was the engine-room of the team.