Sean Bass, the previous head coach at York, was a visitor to Clifton Park yesterday as part of the Pocklington coaching staff. Despite a glut of mid-table teams separating Pocklington and York in the division, both teams are strong and evenly matched. Sam Potrykus and George Davies were the centres for York and Dave Rhodes is now a regular in the second-row. The rain halted as the game started but it would return. Pocklington had brought a fair number of supporters with them.

Within the first five minutes there was a triple blow for York. Firstly, captain, Chris Fox was supported off the field after a bang on the head, he wouldn’t return for the rest of the game. Pocklington then scored two early tries. Winger, Jack Walters made a strong run and released Christian Pollock in support. The Pocklington fullback scored the try but missed the conversion. Fly-half Sam Pattison then gained plenty of ground in centre field for Pocklington before Josh Britton (centre) made the final ten metres with York defenders hanging on to him. This conversion was good, 0-12 to Pock.

The Pocklington pack were mobile and motivated and it was a cold start for York. Pocklington could have scored more points in the early part of the game but York managed to exit their twenty-two and put some pressure on the Pocklington defence. York No8 Shane Goulding, went straight through and scored under the posts. Jon Dawes kicked the conversion. The referee, Dean Walker, was handling the feisty local derby well. After the second scrap of the game he spoke to both captains and still no yellow cards. At mid-afternoon the floodlights were turned on and the persistent drizzle returned.
Jon Dawes missed a difficult penalty kick before Pocklington attacked again. York fly-half Liam Hessay, made a good tackle and there were injuries to both teams which broke up the game. Pocklington won a free ball (advantage from a penalty) and Sam Pattison passed again to Josh Britton who had plenty of space to score. A great strike and a successful conversion followed. Dave Rhodes executed a great tackle on a Pocklington flyer to set up a penalty to York on the next phase of play. Seeking points, York kicked to the corner. Dave Rhodes and Shane Goulding did the hard work, making metres after the line-out drive stalled before Toby Atkin made a nice pass to Jon Dawes who scored near the touchline. He added a fine conversion to make the score 14-19 at half time.

As the second half began, the York defence looked to have got a better read on the Pocklington deep attack. Jon Dawes kicked another penalty for York and there were a couple of Pocklington attacking errors that were not present in the first half. Liam Hessay was kicking for territory well as the misty rain persisted. Two quick tries midway through the second half sealed the game for Pocklington though. The York defence over-committed to protect their wing and Christian Pollock stepped in to space to score on the inside. The fifth try for the visitors was a forwards score in the opposite corner as they ploughed over. The first of these conversions was good, the second missed.

Throughout the game, the Pocklington ball carriers made metres after the tackle.They were determined and hard to put down. Also, their back three fielded and returned the York open field kicks without an error and looked dangerous each time. Pocklington controlled the remainder of the game and York, despite their efforts, didn’t look like scoring. After taking an early lead the visitors never relinquished it and they earned their victory with a fairly complete performance. The final score was York 17 v Pocklington 31.

Pocklington (now 11th in the league) visit Driffield next week and York (now 5th) travel North to Consett.

photos : http://www.yorkrufc.co.uk/photos/york-v-pocklington-8th-december-2018-847839.html