1st XV
W 31-25
League
03-09-2022
Dronfield
By Charlie Hopper
Scarborough made the perfect start to life in Regional two North East with a battling display against Dronfield at Silver Royd on Saturday.
Up against unknown opposition, Matty Jones’ side made the perfect start opening the scoring in the fourth minute courtesy of a converted try from Tom Ratcliffe. The visitors hit straight back through a penalty, which Joe Farrell made no mistake with. The score was then stretched to 12-3 in the 25th minute. Joe Davies collected the ball down the wing before finding Joe Marshall and the centre scored an unconverted try. Dronfield then hit back again with a penalty of their own before they were reduced to 14 men. A head-on-head collision saw the Dronfield man receive a red card. In the 35th minute, the home sides lead was reduced to 12-11. Michael Reynolds took the ball blind before offloading to Jake Steade to score in the corner. On the brink of half-time, Jones’ side scored their third try of the match as Marshall doubled his tally. The final action of the first half came in the form of a try for the visitors. The replacement took the advantage to crash over from close range, leaving the game finely poised at 19-18.
The second half started in the perfect fashion for the Silver Royd outfit, with winger Tom Makin collecting the ball out wide and using his pace to score in the corner for 24-18. The lead was extended even further in the 51st minute through Harrison. Marshall found space in the defence and offloaded to the centre, who scored under the posts. At 31-18, the momentum started to shift, with the visitors registering their third try of the match through Holland. Farrell added the extras for 31-25. As the game headed into the final minutes, Dronfield began piling on the pressure, but a forward pass halted the attack and the referee blew the whistle to give Scarborough a bonus point victory.
It’s derby day next week for Jones’ side, who make the trip to The Gannock, to take on Malton & Norton.