L 34-25

By Charlie Hopper

Scarborough RUFC were knocked out of the Papa Johns Community Cup Regional Two North Shield after slipping to a 34-25 defeat at West Hartlepool on Saturday afternoon.

Fresh off the back of securing their place in Regional Two North East for another season, Matty Jones’ side made a commanding start to the game and took the lead in the third minute. A high tackle presented Tom Harrison with the opportunity to kick, and he made no mistake for 3-0. The home side were then reduced to 14 men, as their winger deliberately knocked-on. Harrison kicked the penalty, but it struck the left-hand post and fell into West Hartlepool hands. Scarborough continued on the front foot, but an ambitious pass was fired directly into touch close to the opposition line. The home side then took the lead in the 16^th minute when their scrum won the ball, and they went over close to the touchline. The returning Matty Young was then shown a yellow card in the 20^th minute and the home side made the advantage count as they doubled their advantage to 10-3. The deficit was reduced just two minutes later as Harrison kicked a penalty after good work at the breakdown. The first half ended in frantic fashion with both sides exchanging converted tries. First West Hartlepool’s Fly-Half crossed over before Jonty Holloway finished off a slick move to leave his side trailing 17-13 at the break.

The second half started in the perfect fashion for Scarborough as Hooker Jake Lyon wriggled clear of the tackle to score. Harrison added the conversion for 20-17. But the celebrations were short lived as West Hartlepool retook the lead with a try from the Hooker. The lead extended even further in the 55^th minute when they scored in the corner following an advantage from the scrum to make it 29-25. The impressive Lyon doubled his tally with 20 minute to go when he had too much strength for the defence and crossed over in the far corner. As the game headed towards the final 10-minute, skipper Drew Govier was shown a yellow card before the home side secured the win with an unconverted try to make it 34-25 and book their place in the Semi-Final.