1st XV
L 7-66
League
23-09-2023
Morley
By Charlie Hopper
Scarborough RUFC slipped to their fourth defeat of the season after visitors Morley ran in 10 tries to pick up a 66-7 victory on a sunny September afternoon at Silver Royd.
Matty Jones’ side, still suffering from losing players to the rugby World Cup, made a slow start to the match and found themselves reduced to 14 men in the 8th minute when Alex Conlin was shown a harsh yellow card. The visitors used the man advantage and opened a 14-0 lead courtesy of converted tries from Nick Green and Micky Ryan. Stand in skipper Jordan Holloway came agonisingly close just minutes later before Scarborough scored their only try of the afternoon. Tom Makin collected the ball and smashed his way through the defence to score. Phil Stewart added the extras for 14-7. The final action of a physical first-half came in the form of back-to-back tries for the visitors. Firstly second-row Brad Freeman reached to score and then scrum-half Noah Hawkins broke clear to score under the posts, giving his side a commanding 28-7 lead at the break.
The Maroons made a quick start to the second half as they extended their lead even further in the 42nd minute. They worked the ball along the line before winger Nathan Parry collected and scored in the corner. Both sides then found themselves reduced to 14 men when Ropeti Ropeti was shown a yellow card for a high tackle and Liam Butler also leaving the pitch for an infringement at the ruck. The Silver Royd outfit, continued to test the Morley defence but struggled to find a way through despite continued pressure. The visitors proved too strong in the final exchanges of the match and capitalised on a tired Scarborough pack to run in a further five tries before the final whistle. Jonny Cole and Nathan Parry added tries to extend the lead to 47-7. Cass was once again at the heart of the Morley attack and bagged his second try in the 74th minute. Kiru Brown and Parry both scored tries at the end of the game to round off a dominant 66-7 win.
Scarborough are on their travels next weekend as they take on Old Crossleyans and go in search of their first win of the season.