A gutsy second half performance from York wasn’t enough to secure victory against a confident Sandal team whose first half dominance simply left too much for York to do. Sandal were ruthless in running in five first half tries, racking up a point per minute before holding on to win 44 – 39 against a resurgent York in an entertaining encounter.

Sandal, playing down the slope and against the breeze, made a lively start clearing out bodies at the breakdown with impunity but couldn’t establish momentum, their penalty count enabling York to stay in the game in the early exchanges. It was York that opened the scoring when Enslin showed great strength to fight his way over the Sandal line under the posts. Davies converted, Sandal 0, York 7.

The rest of the half was to be dominated by Sandal. This was a robust physical encounter that required one to play with a strong heart as much as a clear head. The heavy Sandal pack, aided by gravity and the slope, thundered onto the ball and into the heart of the York defence with a power that enabled them to break the gain line with ease creating good forward momentum for their lively three quarters to exploit. York seemed to be taken by surprise by the ferocity of the onslaught. Missed first up tackles added to the Sandal momentum and enabled their confidence to build, the three quarters joining in with strong running of their own supplemented with good lines of running and accurate passing; it was a lethal combination and a joy to watch. The Allott brothers, recently returned to Sandal from higher level rugby, orchestrated their midfield to feed runners from deep putting pace on to the ball and finding good support to continue their attacks. It looked like festival rugby at one point.

The pick of the Sandal tries was difficult to choose. Joey Allott scored a superb try from 40m taking a flat pass from brother Tommy at pace to scythe through the York defence on a sublime line that took him to the line untouched. It was Jake Adams however that arguably scored the try of the half. A scrum to the right of midfield seemed innocuous enough until right wing Ellar came off his line to create an extra man outside the fly half and inject pace into the move. A long pass to full back Jake Adams running from deep set him off on a long arcing run to the line.

York came back into the game with a penalty try awarded after No8 Stewart pulled the driving maul down to stop what in Mr Higgins mind would have been a certain try. Stewart left the field for ten minutes but Sandal still managed to score another try when down to fourteen men to take the score to 36 – 14. Sandal were soon reduced to 13 men when their second row was yellow carded for a high tackle. The numerical advantage started to benefit York who were now establishing some territory through the efforts of Enslin who showed good fight throughout. The equally abrasive Goulding showed good strength and determination to drive over to complete the scoring in the first half, Sandal 39, York 19.

The first half onslaught had some thinking this was going to be a long afternoon, but such is the character and guts of this team that wasn’t to be the case. York started the second half with the first of three tries by Sam Forbes, on for Tom Woffendin. York, starting to dominate the scrums more, secured a penalty that allowed Shackleton to put them on the Sandal 22m line. Atkin fed Forbes down the short side off a good driving maul who took his opportunity well, Sandal 36, York 24. Sandal extended their lead with a penalty before York, and Forbes, were back to bring the score to 39-29. Sandal back to a full complement now were struggling with the slope, their heavy pack looking visibly tired, couldn’t secure the quality of ball they had provided in the first half.

York pulled the score back to five points with a superb try by Ashman showing his pace down the left wing from a full 50 metres out to outstrip the defence and score in the left hand corner. Sandal 39, York 34. The momentum of the game was all York at this point. Another innocuous midfield scrum created the platform for Forbes third try. An arcing run from Shackleton put Davies away who found the ever present Atkin in support. A simple draw and pass put Forbes on a clear run over the line in the right hand corner. Sandal 39, York 39.

The atmosphere was tense. Sandal realising they could be giving the game away were playing nervously, both sides making mistakes that killed the momentum. The last ten minutes of the game was mostly being played in the York half and a penalty awarded against York 35 metres out seemed to be the end of it for York until the usually reliable Adams missed. York cleared their line three times but mistakes allowed Sandal to put the pressure back on. With only a few minutes remaining, Sandal took advantage of a missed pass in York’s midfield. After working their way to the York 22 metre area through three or four phases they released the ball to their backs. A long pass to Barlow on the wing found him in acres of space and an easy run into the try line. Sandal 44, York 39.