L 12-21

Scarborough fell to their fourth defeat in six games as they lost 21-12 at home to derby rivals Pocklington at Silver Royd.

In the early exchanges, it was clear that both sets of forwards were going to have to control the game and Pocklington did just that. A huge hit in the first scrum presented them with the chance to kick for the corner. In the eleventh minute, however Scarborough took the lead. Scrum-half Jordan Wakeham managed to charge a clearing box-kick down and slide over for a converted try, 7-0. Despite taking an early lead, Boro were put under increased pressure but managed to shut the door on any Pocklington attacks. In the 24^th minute opposition fly-half Christian Pollock opted to kick for the posts when his side won a penalty to close the gap to 7-3. The momentum continued to swing for the remainder of the first-half with Wilson breaking through the line on two different occasions only to fall short of the line.

The second-half began in similar fashion; the ball was spread out wide to Jack Anderson but his delicate kick over the top found its way into touch. The continued ill-discipline from the home side allowed the Percy Road outfit the chance to apply the pressure. In the 52^nd minute Marcus Britland crossed over for a converted try to give his side the lead at 10-7. The visitors then began conceding penalties but Simon Smith’s side struggled to take their chances. In the 66^th minute Pollock added three points to his sides total after a high-tackle gave his side the penalty for 13-7. It was only five minutes later when Pollock was kicking again in front of the posts to extend his sides lead to 16-7. Inside the last five minutes of the game newest recruit Komiti Tuilagi received the ball in acres of space and opened his account with a try in the corner. Ratcliffe missing the difficult conversion to leave it at 16-12. Despite a last-minute attempt to snatch an unlikely victory, Pocklington cemented the win. The ball broke free from the ruck and they crashed over. The whistle was blown straight after the conversion was missed.

Teams

Scarborough: 1. joe nellist 2. stuart smyth 3. matty jones 4. phil watson 5. luke brown 6. chris purdy 7. euan govier 8. drew govier 9. jordan wakeham 10. tom ratcliffe 11. jack anderson 12. billy parker 13. angus frend 14. aaron wilson 15. jonty holloway
Substitutes: 16. sam pollock 17. jordan holloway 18. komiti tuilagi

Scarborough News "Man of the Match": tom ratcliffe

In a game of few positives Tom Ratcliffe managed the game well and kicked superbly