L 24-18

By Charlie Hopper

Scarborough RUFC made the worst possible start to 2023 after a second-half fight back from Old Crossleyans, saw the home side pick up a 24-18 victory on Saturday.

Matty Jones’ side were dealt an early blow before kick-off, loosing Aaron Wilson during the week to injury and they found themselves behind in the 6^th minute. After early pressure, Joe Stott took the close-range penalty quickly and scored to the right of the post for a 7-0 lead. Scarborough had to withstand further pressure from the home side before Tom Makin scored his sides first try of the afternoon. Joe Marshall broke through the defence and unselfishly offloaded for the centre to score. Tom Ratcliffe missed the conversion to leave his side trailing 7-5. The momentum continued to swing, with Scarborough registering their second unconverted try. A handful of offloads presented Richard Scales with an open opportunity to score. In the 32^nd minute Jake Lyon bagged his first try for Jones’ side. He powered his way over out wide having received the ball a few metres out for 15-7.

The second half started with Scarborough dominating the early exchanges, coming close on numerous occasions. But it was the home side who registered the first points with a converted try of their own through James Johnson. The ball was fired wide, and the winger used the overlap to score for 15-14. It then took the home side only three minutes before they deservedly retook the lead. Johnson collected the ball, dinked a dangerous kick over the defence and Joel Macfarlane dropped on the loose ball to stretch the advantage to 21-15. As the game headed into the final exchanges, Old Crossleyans added a penalty to their scoring tally, with Scales receiving a yellow card. Ratcliffe also slotted an easy penalty over for Jones’ side to set up an exciting finish. Despite piling on the pressure late on, Scarborough couldn’t find a way through the defence and slip to their fourth consecutive defeat.

Pocklington are the visitors to Silver Royd on Saturday, as Scarborough look to pick up their first win of 2023.