1st XV

W 36-15

League

08-02-2020

West Hartlepool

By Charlie Hopper

A much improved second-half performance from Scarborough run out 36-15 winners against North One East strugglers West Hartlepool.

Simon Smith’s side were boosted by the return of centre pairing Billy Parker and Komiti Tuilagi as well as skipper Drew Govier returning on the bench and they started on the front foot. Jordan Holloway went close early on but in the seventh minute scrum-half Jordan Wakeham took the penalty quickly and managed to bundle his way over in the corner. Tom Ratcliffe missed the difficult conversion to leave the score at 5-0. The lead was doubled in the 11th minute when Tuilagi ran the length of the pitch to score an unconverted try for his side. The visitors then experienced a good amount of possession and in the 16th minute Chris Atkins scored an unconverted try to reduce the arrears to 10-5. His side saw the lion’s share of possession for the remainder of the first-half but missed key opportunities to score.

The second-half began in the best possible fashion as Ratcliffe collected the ball from Wakeham and powered his way through the defence to score under the posts. He converted his try to stretch the lead to 17-5. The Silver Royd outfit continued to apply the pressure and scored another try in the 48th minute. After exchanging passes with Tom Harrison, Jonty Holloway was able to crash over the tryline for another unconverted try. With the bonus point already secured, Smith’s side looked to distance themselves from West Hartlepool and they did just that in the 54th minute. Second-row Luke Brown powered his way over the line for a converted try to leave the score at 29-5. With just a few minutes left in the game, Harrison put his name on the scoresheet as a lucky bounce presented him with the chance to score under the posts. Ratcliffe added the extras to put his side 36-5 ahead. As the game headed into its final stages, the Brinkburn based outfit scored two quick unconverted tries courtesy of Liam Bailey and Lewis Scott as they reduced the gap to 36-15. The game ended shortly after with Scarborough on the road to derby rivals York next weekend.

Teams

Scarborough: 1. joe nellist 2. stuart smyth 3. jordan day 4. phil watson 5. luke brown 6. jordan holloway 7. euan govier 8. will leah 9. jordan wakeham 10. tom ratcliffe 11. jonty holloway 12. billy parker 13. komiti tuilagi 14. angus frend 15. tom harrison
Substitutes: 16. matty jones 17. drew govier 18. henry hocking

Scarborough News "Man of the Match": billy parker

Billy put in an exceptional performance, carrying well with ball in hand and putting in try saving tackles.